In aviation we are constantly reminded to do the right thing and put safety first in every aspect of aircraft operations. This is especially true in aviation maintenance. A maintenance error on the ground can prove fatal once the aircraft is in the air. After all, there are no emergency lanes in the sky. That said, airlines and corporate flight departments are in the business of making money. Of course, the longer a plane stays on the ground, the more money the airline or company loses. Due to a weak economy, airlines are making efforts now more than ever to increase the productivity of their maintenance departments in an effort to reduce aircraft downtime. This means they spend less time on maintenance inspections and repairs. Management is pushing their maintenance departments to the limits of productivity and efforts to maximize profits. Unfortunately, amid budget cuts, security is dropped from the list. This hasty approach to aircraft maintenance leads to human error. That's why it's imperative that mechanics of all experience levels are aware of human factors and how they relate to their daily tasks. And, perhaps more importantly, how to protect yourself and others from human factors risks. Before we explain how human factors affect aviation safety, we need to understand what human factors are. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) definition of human factors is: "A multidisciplinary effort to generate and compile information about human capabilities and limitations and apply that information to equipment, systems, software, facilities, procedures, jobs, environments, training, personnel, and personnel management to produce safe comfort...... half of the paper ......ion Today 08 Aug 2009: n. pag. 16 April 2011. .Graeber, Curt human factors in improving aviation safety". Unknown Aero Magazine: n. page. Network. 16 April 2011. http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeroromagazine/aero_08/human.html.Johnson, Bill. "Cassetta degli human factors tools". AMT magazine January 12, 2011: page no. Network. April 12, 2011. http://www.amtonline.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=5571. Federal Aviation Administration of the United States. “System Safety Handbook.” Web. 12 April 2011. http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/risk_management/ss_handbook/media/Chap17_1200.PDF.United States Federal. Aviation Administration. “Components of the safety management system”. , 2009. Web. 16 April 2011. http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/sms/explained/components/