This book covers all aspects of aircraft accident investigation including inflight fires, electrical circuitry, and composite structure failure. The authors explain basic investigation techniques and procedures required by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). There are also chapters on accident analysis, investigation management, and report writing. The appendices include the Code of Ethics and Conduct of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators.
Fascinating and factual accounts of the world’s most recent and compelling crashes Industry insiders James Walters and Robert Sumwalt, trained aviation accident investigators and commercial airline pilots, offer expert analyses of notable and recent aircraft accidents in this eye-opening, lesson-filled case file. Culled from final reports issued by military and foreign government investigations, as well as additional research and resources, Aircraft Accident Analysis: Final Reports tells the final and full tales of doomed flights that stopped the world cold in their wake. Technical accuracy and details, presented in layman’s language, help to clarify: Major accidents from commercial, military, and general aviation flights Pilot backgrounds and flight histories Chronology of events leading to each accident Description of aviation investigation process Insight into NTSB, military, and foreign government findings Resulting recommendations, requirements, and policy changes Readable, authoritative, and complete, Aircraft Accident Analysis: Final Reports is at once an important reference tool and a riveting, what-went-wrong look at air safety for everyone who flies. Featured final and preview reports include: U.S. Air Force, U.S Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, Dubrovnik, Croatia Jessica Dubroff, Cheyenne, Wyoming Valujet Airlines 592, Everglades, Florida American Airlines 955, Cali, Columbia John Denver, Pacific Grove, California Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Carrollton, Georgia US Air 427, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania TWA 800, Long Island, New York Delta Air Lines, LaGuardia Airport, New York John F. Kennedy, Jr., Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
Human error is implicated in nearly all aviation accidents, yet most investigation and prevention programs are not designed around any theoretical framework of human error. Appropriate for all levels of expertise, the book provides the knowledge and tools required to conduct a human error analysis of accidents, regardless of operational setting (i.e. military, commercial, or general aviation). The book contains a complete description of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), which incorporates James Reason's model of latent and active failures as a foundation. Widely disseminated among military and civilian organizations, HFACS encompasses all aspects of human error, including the conditions of operators and elements of supervisory and organizational failure. It attracts a very broad readership. Specifically, the book serves as the main textbook for a course in aviation accident investigation taught by one of the authors at the University of Illinois. This book will also be used in courses designed for military safety officers and flight surgeons in the U.S. Navy, Army and the Canadian Defense Force, who currently utilize the HFACS system during aviation accident investigations. Additionally, the book has been incorporated into the popular workshop on accident analysis and prevention provided by the authors at several professional conferences world-wide. The book is also targeted for students attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University which has satellite campuses throughout the world and offers a course in human factors accident investigation for many of its majors. In addition, the book will be incorporated into courses offered by Transportation Safety International and the Southern California Safety Institute. Finally, this book serves as an excellent reference guide for many safety professionals and investigators already in the field.
* This worldwide bestseller utilizes case studies to examine and explain aircraft accidents and incidents * Covers five major problem causes: human factors, weather, mid-air collisions, mechanical failure, runway incursions * NEW TO THIS EDITION: Chapters on Monitoring/Managing Cockpit Behavior and Spatial Disorientation; 27 new case studies; 25% new illustrations * Updated data and statistics throughout
Looking from several viewpoints at the different factors involved in causing aircraft accidents, this book also describes some crucial incidents which puzzle the investigators. It explains the painstaking work of reconstructing the precise sequence of events which brought about a disaster and how clues are found that throw light on what actually happened. Other topics include the present state of aviation safety and the challenges facing the future of the industry.
On August 12, 1985, a Japan Airlines B-747 aircraft lost, shortly after take-off, part of its tail and crashed in the mountains northwest of Tokyo. Of the 524 persons on board 520 were killed, 4 survived the accident. The accident was caused by a rupture of the aft pressure bulkhead of the aircraft, and the subsequent ruptures of a part of the fuselage tail, vertical fin and hydraulic flight control systems. The rupture happened as the result of an improper repair after an accident with the aircraft in Osaka, in June 1978.
The investigation and modelling of aviation accident causation is dominated by linear models. Aviation is, however, a complex system and as such suffers from being artificially manipulated into non-complex models and methods. This book addresses this issue by developing a new approach to investigating aviation accident causation through information networks. These networks centralise communication and the flow of information as key indicators of a system’s health and risk. This holistic approach focuses on the system environment, the activity that takes place within it, the strategies used to conduct this activity, the way in which the constituent parts of the system (both human and non-human) interact and the behaviour required. Each stage of this book identifies and expands upon the potential of the information network approach, maintaining firm focus on the overall health of a system. The book’s new model offers many potential developments and some key areas are studied in this research. Through the centralisation of barriers and information nodes the method can be applied to almost any situation. The application of Bayesian mathematics to historical data populations provides scope for studying error migration and barrier manipulation. The book also provides application of these predictions to a flight simulator study for the purposes of validation. Beyond this it also discusses the applicability of the approach to industry. Through working with a legacy airline the methods discussed are used as the basis for a new and prospective safety management system.
This fascinating story explains how aviation crashes are investigated, and what goes on behind the scenes to improve safety. It is also the untold saga of how one maverick scientist battled the bureaucracy to save lives. Federal officials hired him to prevent an anticipated bloodbath from airline deregulation. He soon introduced innovations, such as Crew Resource Management training, which dramatically reduced airline accidents. However, when he dared expose lies to Congress, officials used the sky marshals to harass him. They then ignored his other programs, which contributed to countless unnecessary deaths -- including JFK Junior's. Becoming a military safety guru, his important tasks included training Air Force One crews, and going undercover to discover why a mysterious Soviet airliner crash killed an African president. But he was fired for blowing the whistle on the Pentagon cover-up of the worst fratricide since Vietnam. Congress and other important organizations have often sought his advice on civil and military aviation problems.
