have been documented as a primary contributor to more than  70 percent of aircraft accidents.  Typically, human factor incidents/accidents are associated  with flight operations but recently have also become a major  concern in aviation maintenance and air traffic management  as well.  [Figure 2-8]  Over the past several years, the FAA has  made the study and research of human factors a top priority  by working closely with engineers, pilots, mechanics, and  ATC to apply the latest knowledge about human factors in  an effort to help operators and maintainers improve safety  and efficiency in their daily operations.  Human factors science, or human factors technologies,  is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions  from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics,  operations research, and anthropometry. It is a term that  covers the science of understanding the properties of  human capability, the application of this understanding to  the design, development and deployment of systems and  services, and the art of ensuring successful application of  human factor principles into all aspects of aviation to include  pilots, ATC, and aviation maintenance. Human factors is  often considered synonymous with CRM or maintenance  resource management (MRM) but is really much broader in  The accident-free group showed a superior knowledge  of safety, was considered industrious and cooperative  Studies of human behavior have tried to determine an  individual’s predisposition to taking risks and the level of  an individual’s involvement in accidents. In 1951, a study  regarding injury-prone children was published by Elizabeth  Mechem Fuller and Helen B. Baune, of the University of  Minnesota. The study was comprised of two separate groups  of second grade students. Fifty-five students were considered  accident repeaters and 48 students had no accidents. Both  groups were from the same school of 600 and their family  demographics were similar.  both its knowledge base and scope. Human factors involves  gathering research specific to certain situations (i.e., flight,  maintenance, stress levels, knowledge) about human abilities,  limitations, and other characteristics and applying it to tool  design, machines, systems, tasks, jobs, and environments  to produce safe, comfortable, and effective human use. The  entire aviation community benefits greatly from human  factors research and development as it helps better understand  how humans can most safely and efficiently perform their  jobs and improve the tools and systems in which they interact.  Human Behavior  Figure 2-8.  Human factors effects pilots, aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs) and air traffic control (ATC).  2-11 