Aircraft Accident Investigation Research Articles

Use of Aircraft Accident Investigation Evidence in New Zealand

Use of Aircraft Accident Investigation Evidence in New Zealand

Managing Aviation Human Factors Aircraft Accident Investigations: Lessons Learned

The Human Performance Division of the Office of Aviation Safety of the National Transportation Safety Board is charged with explaining the nature of the error or errors that may have caused or contributed to the cause of civil aviation accidents. In this paper I describe the conduct of a human performance investigation, circumstances that may be encountered during an investigation, and aspects of the management of the human factors group within the National Transportation Safety Board.

Effects of Motivation and Cabin Configuration on Emergency Aircraft Evacuation Behavior and Rates of Egress

Evidence from aircraft accident investigations suggests that the behavior of the passengers during the course of an emergency evacuation can have a dramatic effect on their survival chances. In some cases, the design of the cabin interior has been cited as a mitigating factor in delayed cabin egress. The research described in this article formed the first stage of a longitudinal program of research designed to address these concerns and to identify means by which emergency evacuations may be optimized. A series of full-scale evacuation simulations were performed in which the cabin design was systematically varied and which offered financial incentives to motivate volunteers to compete. Additionally, a number of similar evacuations without the financial incentive were carried out to simulate evacuations performed in less life-threatening circumstances. The results revealed that blockages adjacent to the exits were more likely to occur when space was at a minimum, although serious blockages occurred only when volunteers were competing with one another. Evacuation rates were also found to be affected by aircraft or cabin configurational changes. Those evacuations requiring that volunteers pass through the aperture by the midcabin bulkheads were found to be accelerated by an increase in the aperture width. This was also true for evacuations through a Type III emergency exit, up to a point beyond which rates were found to decline. Recommendations for optimum configurations were made on the basis of these results.

European Guidelines for Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigations

European Guidelines for Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigations

Aviation ergonomics: whence and whither?

An argument is advanced for the inclusion of ergonomics in the design and operation of aircraft systems and in the investigation of aircraft accidents

Cognitive failure analysis for aircraft accident investigation

Abstract The present studies were undertaken to investigate the applicability of an information processing approach to human failure in the aircraft cockpit. Using data obtained from official aircraft accident investigation reports, a database of accidents and incidents involving New Zealand civil aircraft between 1982 and 1991 was compiled. In the first study, reports were coded into one of three error stages proposed by Nagel (1988) and for the presence of any of 61 specific errors noted by Gerbert and Kemmler (1986). The importance of decisional factors in fatal crashes was noted. Principal components analysis suggested the presence of five different varieties of human failure. In the second study, a more detailed error taxonomy derived from the work of Rasmussen (1982) was applied to the data. Goal selection errors emerged as the most frequent kind of cognitive error in fatal accidents. Aircraft accident reports can be a useful source of information about cognitive failures if probed with an appropria...

Aircraft Accident Investigation and Airworthiness – A Practical Example of the Interaction of Two Disciplines with some Reflections on Possible Legal Consequences

Aircraft Accident Investigation and Airworthiness – A Practical Example of the Interaction of Two Disciplines with some Reflections on Possible Legal Consequences

Simulation and Visualisation

SIMULATION has been a valuable asset for a considerable time and recent advances in the generation of computer graphics have reinforced and amplified this view. The Royal Aeronautical Society discussed its use in the prevention and investigation of aircraft accidents at a recent conference which also highlighted the part that it plays in the training of investigators and emergency personnel.

Nutrient groove of the ilium, a subtle but important forensic radiographic marker in the identification of victims of severe trauma

A variety of skeletal characteristics pertaining to the bony pelvis have, over the years, been of assistance as forensic markers, but the importance of the nutrient groove of the ilium has not been appreciated. During aircraft accident investigations we compared premortem anteroposterior abdominal radiographs with postmortem specimen radiographs of the ilium, with particular attention directed to the nutrient groove of the ilium. This marker can assume several configurations (i.e., parallel, V-shaped and Y-shaped) and is situated a few centimeters lateral to the sacroiliac joint. Left/right asymmetry, or absence of the nutrient grove on one side of the pelvis are possible variants within an individual. The purpose of this report is to emphasize the previously unrecognized importance of the nutrient groove of the ilium as a useful forensic radiographic marker.

Autopsies, Medicine, and the Public

Autopsies, Medicine, and the Public

Amendment 8 to ICAO Annex 13 (‘Aircraft Accident Investigation’) – Some (legally orientated) guidance in the application of para. 5.12 (‘Disclosure

Amendment 8 to ICAO Annex 13 (‘Aircraft Accident Investigation’) – Some (legally orientated) guidance in the application of para. 5.12 (‘Disclosure

Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine.

Part 1 Aerospace medicine in perspective: historical, modern and future perspectives. Part 2 Physiology in the flight environment: the atmosphere respiratory physiology protection in the pressure environment decompression sickness and pulmonary overpressure accidents biodynamics vibration, noise and communication spatial orientation in flight thermal stress beyond the biosphere. Part 3 Clinical practice of aerospace medicine: aircrew health care maintenance clinical aerospace cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine ophthalmology, otolaryngology, neuropsychiatry in aerospace medicine the passenger and patient in flight. Part 4 Operational aerospace medicine: army aviation medicine naval aerospace medicine civil aviation medicine international aviation medicine aircraft accident investigation human factors in aerospace medicine biomedical challenges of spaceflight aircraft accidents - prevention, survival and rescue. Part 5 Impact of the aerospace industry on community health: role of aviation in the transmission of disease aviation and the environment. (Part contents).

Aircraft Accident Investigation: from an insurance perspective

Aircraft Accident Investigation: from an insurance perspective

Aircraft accident investigation in international law

Aircraft accident investigation in international law

Aircraft Accident Investigation procedures in Japan

Aircraft Accident Investigation procedures in Japan

Aircraft Accident Investigation Procedures. The French System

Aircraft Accident Investigation Procedures. The French System

Switzerland: new legislation on aircraft accident investigation

Switzerland: new legislation on aircraft accident investigation

Explosives sabotage and its investigation in civil aircraft

Higgs, D.G., 1982. Explosives sabotage and its investigation in civil aircraft. Journal of Occupational Accidents, 3: 249–258. The Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment first became interested in aircraft accident investigation when a BOAC Comet aircraft was lost in the sea off Greece on 12th October 1967. Since that time nine other such investigations have been undertaken successfully. The occasions when an aircraft is reported to have been seen exploding in mid-air are rare events, but when this is coupled with the known absence of a subsequent fire, there must be a high level of significance associated with evidence of melted polymeric materials and the probable occurrence of a detonation aboard. Such occasions offer fruitful areas for extending research into specific forms of damage to polymeric materials. Several examples of novel damage are illustrated in this paper, selected from a detailed examination of aircraft fabrics and clothing of passengers.

The Rockne Crash

In midmorning on March 31, 1931, at Bazaar, Kansas (between Kansas City and Wichita), an F-10A air transport of the Transcontinental and Western Airline crashed in bad weather, resulting in the loss of the two crew members and six passengers. This crash brought the sensational news to the American public of the death of Knute Rockne, the lengendary football coach of Notre Dame University. It also focused the public's attention on the hazards of airline travel in America 50 years ago. The response of the Department of Commerce's Committee on aviation Safety, developing since 1926, helped assure the public that a proper investigation into questions of safety of airline transports was made. The response to the crash of the F-10A transport that killed Rockne was to ground all the planes and carefully examine the wings for defects. This resulted in the eventual removal of all wooden wings from air transports and effectively demonstrated the need for advanced aircraft design. This led to the introduction of several new concepts in aircraft design, including the Boeing Transport and the DC series of the Douglas Aircraft company, which has been a mainstay for commercial and military transportation since the early 1930s. A general review of the development of aviation is given as well as the details of the development of aircraft accident investigation by the federal government. This includes the investigation of the Rockne crash.

Some legal and medical problems in aircraft accident investigations.

The legal and medical problems associated with the aftermath of an aircraft accident are complex and the difficulties are accentuated by the international nature of flight. Early in the history of civil aviation attempts were made to legislate for potential difficulties, but newer situations such as air piracy, changes in domestic laws and inflation have complicated the picture. Forensic pathologists involved in such medico-legal investigations may have a considerable workload thrust upon them.