Reliability of Eyewitness Reports to a Major Aviation Accident

Abstract

to have researched more crashes than anybody else in the world (Air Correspondent, 1962). In the same article he was quoted as saying that eyewitnesses to aviation accidents are “almost always wrong” (p. 8). Contemporary accident investigation textbooks employ more measured language (Strauch, 2002; Wood & Sweginnis, 2006) but they do note that inconsistences are often found among eyewitness accounts. In the 50 years since Dr. Walker’s statement, research into eyewitness testimony has advanced considerably; however there remains a paucity of published empirical studies regarding the validity and reliability of aviation crash witness statements. We have long known eyewitness testimony to be less than completely reliable (Loftus 1996; Toglia, Reed, Ross & Lindsay, 2006). Over a century ago Munsterberg (1908) gave many examples, including the time a revolver was fired during a lecture. The dramatic scene was all play-acting, part of a controlled experiment. Similar experimental techniques are still used in eyewitness research, but have limitations (Memon, Mastroberardino & Fraser, 2008). Field and archival techniques further expand our understanding (Wells, Memon & Penrod, 2006), and have included studies of witness records of large traumatic events such as the