Professor Graham Braithwaite

FRAeS, FCILT, FISASI

Director of Transport Systems and Professor of Safety and Accident Investigation

Academic & Business Support

Areas of expertise

Air Transport Safety & Investigation
Human Factors
Safety, Resilience, Risk & Reliability

Background

Graham holds a BSc (Hons) in Transport Management and Planning and a PhD in Aviation Safety Management from Loughborough University. From 1997 to 2003, he taught Aviation Safety and Human Factors at the University of New South Wales in Australia and was involved in a range of research projects covering ATC, cabin safety, rescue and firefighting and engineering human factors.

Graham joined Cranfield University in 2003 as the Director of the Safety and Accident Investigation Centre where he launched new multimodal accident investigation courses in 2004 and the world's first MSc for aircraft accident investigators in 2005. He was promoted to Professor and Head of the Department of Air Transport in 2006, Head of the Transport and Safety Engineering Division in 2013 and Director of the Transport Systems Theme in 2015.

In 2011, Graham led the University's successful bid for a Queen's Anniversary Prize. This is the highest honour that can be given to a UK academic institution and was awarded for Cranfield's "world-leading work in aviation safety through research and teaching in air accident investigation." In 2012, he was given the honour 'Distinguished Alumni' of Loughborough University and in 2013 he was able to collect the Flight Safety Foundation's Richard Teller Crane Founders Award on behalf of Cranfield University for its sustained corporate leadership in aviation safety.

In 2019, Graham led the University's successful bid for its sixth Queen's Anniversary Prize - for the University's flying classrooms and laboratories.

Research opportunities

Applications for PhD research in areas relating to transport safety management, accident investigation and human factors are always welcome.

Please contact me for a preliminary conversation about your area of interest.

Current activities

Professor Braithwaite is Director of Transport Systems - one of the eight industry-facing themes that make up Cranfield University. Transport Systems covers seven centres: Air Transport Management; Advanced Vehicle Engineering; the National Flying Laboratory Centre; Engineering Photonics; Integrated Vehicle Health Management; the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC); and Safety & Accident Investigation. The Theme operates a number of unique facilities including a Jetstream 31 Flying Classroom, Boeing 737 Ground Demonstrator, Accident Investigation Laboratory, the Multi User Environment for Autonomous Vehicle Innovation (MUEAVI) and an Off-Road Vehicle Dynamics Test Facility.

Graham is also Professor of Safety and Accident Investigation and the academic lead for the University's £67 million Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) which became operational in 2021.

Graham is involved in the development and delivery of training for transport accident investigators and has a particular interest in safety culture. He regularly speaks at international symposia and conferences on the topic (e.g. Safeskies, the Royal Aeronautical Society, Shell Aircraft, CHC Safety & Quality Forum) and is regularly called upon to provide expert advice on safety from organisations including the news media (e.g. BBC, ITN, CNN), the aviation industry and the House of Commons Transport Select Committee.

Graham is the independent non-exec on the TUI (Northern Region) Airlines Safety Review Board and Independent Safety Adviser to the British Airways Board.

Clients

Previous clients for tailored training courses include: AirAsia, Cathay Pacific Airways, British Airways, China Airlines, Monarch Airlines, easyJet, AirTanker, Boeing Global Learning Institute, AirBusiness Academy, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (HKCAD), Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (HKMTR), Electrical and Mechanical Services Division (EMSD), Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), Japanese Airline Pilots Association (JAPA), Japanese Marine Accident Investigation Association, QinetiQ Technology Training, Belfast Airport and Hong Kong International Airport.

Previous clients for research and consultancy include: UK Civil Aviation Authority, Department for Transport (DfT), Thomson Airways, European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Laing O'Rourke, National Police Air Service (NPAS) and Air Safety Support International (ASSI).

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

Ryan R, Al-Rubaye S & Braithwaite G (2022) UTM regulatory concerns with machine learning and artificial intelligence. In: 2022 IEEE/AIAA 41st Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), Portsmouth, Virginia, 18-22 September 2022.
Karyotakis MK, Panagiotakopoulos D, Braithwaite G & Tsourdos A (2021) Aspects and challenges of unmanned aircraft systems safety assurance and certification for advanced operations. In: AIAA Aviation 2021 Forum, Virtual Event, 2-6 August 2021.
Li W-C, Zhang J, Kearney P & Braithwaite G (2021) Exploring Air Traffic Controllers Rosters for Fatigue Risk Management. In: Ergonomics & Human Factors 2021, Online, 19-21 April 2021.
Ryan R, Al-Rubaye S, Braithwaite G & Panagiotakopoulos D (2020) The legal framework of UTM for UAS. In: 2020 AIAA/IEEE 39th Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), San Antonio, 11-15 October 2020.
Li WC, Lin J, Braithwaite G & Greaves M (2016) The development of eye tracking in aviation (ETA) technique to investigate pilots' cognitive processes of attention and decision making. In: 32nd Conference of the European Association for Aviation Psychology, Cascais, 26-30 September 2016.
Li W-C, Yu C-S, Greaves M & Braithwaite G (2016) How cockpit design impact on pilot’s attention distribution during aiming a stationary target. In: 6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE 2015) and the Affiliated Conferences, Las Vegas, Nevada, 26-30 July 2015.
Li W-C, Yu C-S, Braithwaite G & Greaves M (2015) The analysis of pilots fixation distribution for performing air-to-air and air-to-surface tasks. In: Contemporary Ergonomics and Human Factors, 2015, Daventry, 13-16 April 2015.
Li W-C, Braithwaite G & Yu C-S (2014) The Investigation of Pilots’ Eye Scan Patterns on the Flight Deck during Air-to-Surface. In: 16th International Conference on Human Computer Interaction, Creta Maris, Heraklion, Crete, 22-27 June 2014.
Braithwaite GR (2014) Working with the news media: practical tips for investigators. In: International Society of Air Safety Investigators 2014 Seminar, Adelaide, 13-16 October 2014.
Braithwaite GR (2012) Accident Investigation - Are we reaching the systemic causes of accidents?. In: Twentieth Safety-critical Systems Symposium, Bristol, 7-9 February 2012.
Langer M & Braithwaite G (2012) The development of the maintenance operations safety survey: challenges in transferring a predictive safety tool from flight operations to aircraft maintenance. In: International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI) 2012 Annual Seminar "Evolution of aviation safety - from reactive to predictive", Baltimore, Maryland, 27-30 August 2012.
Boston N, Braithwaite & GR (2010) Hazards at Aircraft Accident Sites: Training Investigators in Line with the ICAO Circular 315 Guidelines. In: 41st Annual International Seminar of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators 2010, Sapporo, 7 September 2010.
Greaves MJ & Braithwaite GR (2010) The Use of Commercial Satellite Imagery in Aircraft Accident Investigation: Results from Recent Trials. In: 41st Annual International Seminar of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators 2010, Sapporo, 7 September 2010.
Rashid HS, Braithwaite GR & Place CS (2010)
A proposal for aviation maintenance safety monitoring process

. In: Reliability, risk and safety : theory and applications : ESREL 2009, Prague, 7-10 September 2009.
Mitchell, SJ, Braithwaite & GR (2009) Using the Best Cost Analysis for Effective Safety Recommendations. In: 40th Annual International Seminar of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators 2009, Orlando, 14 September 2009.
Li W-C, Yan Z, Zhang J, Braithwaite G, Court S, Lone M & Thapa B Evaluating pilot’s perceived workload on interacting with augmented reality device in flight operations. In: 22nd International conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI International) 2020, Copenhagen, 19-24 July 2020.
Li W-C, Hsu C-K, Braithwaite G & Greaves M Pilots' scan-path and attention shifts during tactical maneuvers.. In: Ergonomics & Human Factors 2016, Daventry, 19-21 April 2016.
Kearney P, Li W-C, Braithwaite G & Wang L The assessment of safety and human performance on multiple remote tower operations. In: 33rd Conference of the European Association for Aviation Psychology, Dubrovnik, 27-31 August 2018.
Li W-C & Braithwaite G Evaluating ATCO’s attention distributions and situation awareness on augmented visualization design of Remote Tower System. In: International Conference on Human-System Integration, Biarritz, 11-13 September 2019.
Li W-C & Braithwaite G Evaluating ATCO’s attention distributions and situation awareness on augmented visualization design of remote tower system. In: International Conference on Human-System Integration, Biarritz, 11-13 September 2019.
Li W-C & Braithwaite G Enhancing accident investigation capability and human resilience through emerging technology for digital aviation. In: 4th International Accident Investigation Forum, Changi, 10-12 April 2019.
Li W-C, Yu C-S, Braithwaite G & Greaves M Interface design and pilot’s attention distribution during pursuing a dynamic target. In: 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interation (HCI 2015), Los Angeles, CA, 2-7 August 2015.
Li WC, Braithwaite G, Greaves M, Hsu CK & Lin SC. The evaluation of pilots' attention distributions on the flight deck.. In: International Conference on Human Computer Interaction in Aerospace, Paris, 14 September 2016.