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.

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.

As part of the national effort to improve aviation safety, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chartered the National Research Council to examine and recommend improvements in the aircraft certification process currently used by the FAA, manufacturers, and operators.

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

Adverse aircraft-pilot coupling (APC) events include a broad set of undesirable and sometimes hazardous phenomena that originate in anomalous interactions between pilots and aircraft. As civil and military aircraft technologies advance, interactions between pilots and aircraft are becoming more complex. Recent accidents and other incidents have been attributed to adverse APC in military aircraft. In addition, APC has been implicated in some civilian incidents. This book evaluates the current state of knowledge about adverse APC and processes that may be used to eliminate it from military and commercial aircraft. It was written for technical, government, and administrative decisionmakers and their technical and administrative support staffs; key technical managers in the aircraft manufacturing and operational industries; stability and control engineers; aircraft flight control system designers; research specialists in flight control, flying qualities, human factors; and technically knowledgeable lay readers.