Understanding and Supporting Aircraft Accident Investigation and Reconstruction C1143
Topics: Quality, Safety & Maintenance
Aircraft accident and incident investigations should be supported by all engineering disciplines and departments involved with design, manufacturing, certification, and field operations. For individuals called upon to serve as advisors or technical representatives to official aircraft accident investigation (AAI) teams, an understanding of accident and wreckage reconstruction methodologies and processes is critical to success in this supportive role.
This two-day course will begin with basic investigative philosophies and procedures. The instructor will then guide participants through various basic data gathering methods that cover specific types of accident investigations, which include human factors, crashworthiness, fire and explosions, in-flight breakups, and mid-air collisions. Presentations are based on actual accidents and real-life investigation experiences and AAI case studies are integrated throughout the course to provide participants the knowledge required to effectively support aircraft accident and wreckage reconstruction.
Learning Objectives
By attending this course, you will be able to:
- Identify the key requirements and steps in the AAI process.
- Identify and evaluate analytical procedures used in an AAI.
- Identify and analyze potential complications that arise during an AAI.
- Construct and contribute analysis in support of an AAI.
Who Should Attend
This course will benefit individuals seeking a fundamental understanding of the aircraft accident and wreckage reconstruction process, particularly engineers within the aerospace industries that may be called upon to serve in a supportive role as a technical advisor to an official aircraft accident investigation team.
Prerequisites
Participants should have an aviation related technical background and at least a general understanding of the aviation industry.
You must complete all course contact hours and successfully pass the learning assessment to obtain CEUs.
- Introduction
- Investigative Attitudes and Behaviors
- Approach to an Investigation
- Simple vs complex
- Collecting evidence
- Reconstructing evidence
- Basic Analytical Procedures
- Nine-box matrix
- Results of Incomplete Investigation Processes
- Human Factors Analysis
- G-load tolerance
- Recognition and reaction time
- Spatial and situational disorientation
- Visual illusions
- Cockpit warnings and control issues
- Identifying hazards
- Technologically advanced aircraft
- Aging Aircraft
- Witness Interviews
- Photo Documentation
- In-Flight Breakups
- Sequence
- Radar data
- Trajectory analysis
- Flutter
- Crashworthiness and Survivability
- Design aspects
- Implementation
- Impact analysis
- Fire and Explosions
- Basic fire science
- Ground vs in-flight fires
- Deflagration vs detonation and their effects
- Mid-Air Collisions
- Operational/environmental aspects
- Wreckage evaluation
- Nine-Box Matrix Exercise
- Wreckage Reconstruction Exercise
Donald Knutson
Since 1992, Mr. Knutson has conducted hundreds of field investigations on domestic and foreign accidents involving various models of civilian and military aircraft. He is President of Knutson Aviation Services (KAS, founded in 2002), a consulting firm specializing in aircraft accident and wreckage reconstruction, airframe and powerplant system failure analysis, and air safety education and research. Mr. Knutson has taught graduate and continuing education courses on aircraft accident investigation for the Wichita State University (Wichita, KS) Aerospace Engineering program and Lewis University Aviation programs (Romeoville, IL). For Boeing's military operations in Wichita, he instructed engineers in basic and advanced topics on supporting U.S. Air Force crash investigations.
Prior to starting KAS, Mr. Knutson was with The Boeing Company as a Flight Test Engineer where he evaluated fuel system designs and remote aerial refueling operations for the 767 Tanker program. Mr. Knutson also served as Director of Aviation for a forensics engineering firm where he provided aircraft accident investigation consulting and business development. Mr. Knutson's experience also includes Senior Engineer and Air Safety Investigator for Beech Aircraft Company where he was the engineering liaison between Beech and the NTSB, the FAA, and foreign government investigators. He served as a Designated NTSB Representative for several international accidents and helped train new air safety investigators during field investigations. He performed airframe and powerplant (turbine and piston) system inspections, wreckage reconstruction, and metallurgical examinations; and evaluated issues regarding structural failure and dynamics/flutter, and crashworthiness and survivability issues. Mr. Knutson is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI). He is an FAA-certified pilot and Airframe and Powerplant Mechanic. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (Lafayette, LA).
