Douglas M. Moss
Biography
Doug Moss is an instructor in Human Factors at the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC), where he teaches courses in Human Error Analysis. His work focuses on the analysis of accidents and incidents in complex socio-technical systems, with particular emphasis on the interaction of human performance, system design, organizational influences, and regulatory environments. His teaching and professional background align with established systems-safety frameworks, including the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model of accident causation, and contemporary safety science perspectives informed by the work of Sidney Dekker.
Captain Moss brings a multidisciplinary background spanning engineering, flight test, airline operations, law, and accident analysis. He spent 21 years as a pilot at United Airlines, operating advanced aircraft such as the Boeing 787, 777, 767, 757, 727, and the Airbus A320. This operational experience provides real-world grounding for academic discussions of human–automation interaction, procedural design, crew coordination, and the organizational factors that shape frontline performance.
Prior to his airline career, he served as a Senior Engineering Test Pilot at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California, where he conducted design, development, and FAA certification flight testing of the MD-80 and MD-90 transport aircraft. His engineering flight test work encompassed aircraft performance, flying qualities, avionics, flight control systems, systems integration, and human factors, with particular attention to how design assumptions, certification standards, and operational use influence system resilience and failure modes.
Earlier in his career, Captain Moss was an Experimental Test Pilot in the US Air Force and an instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School. He participated in developmental test programs for the T-46 Next Generation Trainer and the F-4 AIM/ACES ejection system. While at the Test Pilot School, he served as Chief of the Flying Qualities Branch and chief spin instructor in the A-37. These roles further inform his academic perspective on training system design, error tolerance, and the management of risk in high-consequence systems.
Captain Moss holds a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Juris Doctor from Concord Law School. This academic foundation supports an analytical approach to safety that integrates engineering rigor, organizational decision-making, and legal and regulatory context.
He is the founder and owner of AeroPacific Consulting, an aviation consulting firm specializing in accident analysis and human factors. In this role, he has provided expert opinions, written reports, and courtroom testimony in numerous aviation and airline accident cases. His analytical work emphasizes systemic accident causation, moving beyond individual error to examine latent conditions, organizational drift, and the gap between “work as imagined” and “work as done,” consistent with modern safety science principles.
In addition to his academic and consulting activities, Captain Moss remains an active general aviation pilot and continues to teach and mentor pilots, maintaining an applied connection between theoretical safety models and real-world system performance.