Root Cause Analysis for Aviation Incidents & Audit Findings

This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

Learn how to investigate aviation problems systematically, identify their underlying causes, develop effective corrective actions, and reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

This practical, beginner-friendly course introduces Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in aviation and shows you how RCA can be applied to aviation incidents, occurrences, maintenance errors, audit findings, non-compliances, and operational problems.

Rather than simply asking who made a mistake, effective Root Cause Analysis asks a more useful question:

Why was the problem able to happen?

Throughout the course, you will learn how to move from the visible problem to the evidence, contributing factors, underlying causes, corrective actions, and finally verification of effectiveness.

You will learn the difference between a correction, root cause, and corrective action, as well as how to distinguish between direct causes, contributing factors, and deeper system or process weaknesses.

The course also introduces two widely used practical RCA techniques:

The 5 Whys Method — a structured way of asking why a problem occurred and progressively investigating deeper causes.

Fishbone / Cause-and-Effect Analysis — a method for exploring possible contributing factors across areas such as people, procedures, equipment, environment, organisation, and communication.

Using practical aviation examples, you will see how Root Cause Analysis can be applied to situations such as overdue maintenance inspections, incorrectly completed maintenance tasks, ground-operation events, and aviation audit findings.

You will also learn why corrective action must directly address the identified cause and why an action should not be considered successful simply because it has been completed. Effective RCA requires follow-up and objective evidence showing that the solution actually worked.
Whether you work in aircraft maintenance, aviation quality, safety management, compliance monitoring, internal auditing, CAMO, MRO, airline operations, airport operations, or ground handling, this course will give you a practical foundation for approaching problems in a more structured and professional way.