[Heliogeophysical factors and aviation accidents]

It was shown by two independent methods that there is a certain correlation between the number of aviation accidents and heliogeophysical factors. The statistical and spectral analyses of time series of heliogeomagnetic factors and the number of aviation accidents in 1989-1995 showed that, of 216 accidents, 58% are related to sudden geomagnetic storms. A similar relation was revealed for aviation catastrophes (64% out of 86 accidents) and emergencies (54% out of 130 accidents) that coincided in time with heliogeomagnetic storms. General periodicities of the series were revealed by the method of spectral analysis, namely, cycles of 30, 42, 46, 64, 74, 83, 99, 115, 143, 169, 339 days, which confirms the causative relation between the number of aviation accidents and heliogeomagnetic factors. It is assumed that some aviation accidents that coincided in time with geomagnetic storms, are due to changes in professional abilities of pilots that were in the zone of storms.