The aviation industry partitions the root cause of aviation accidents into specific areas when in fact all accidents are attributed to human error. Causes are grouped into the areas of pilot error, weather, maintenance, air traffic control, and the airframe itself. This exercise of grouping is misleading and incorrect. Additionally, the industry collects and segregates other causal factors while segregating additional contributors deemed as contributors, like terrorism. This retrospective analysis examines aviation mishaps for their true root cause. Analysis indicates causal factors should not be segmented into specific area and be focused on human activities. This research exhibits mishaps are caused by human error and recommends new categorization to improve investigation techniques and education to the aviation industry.