Accident Investigation: Key Players and Their Recommendations

For some time I have known that I don’t know everything. Granted, there was a time when I thought I did and I couldn’t be told wrong if you had the reference sitting in my face. Thankfully that has all changed. In life you begin to learn that there are people out there who know things you don’t and you start to realize that in some areas of life you might just need a helping hand. The same can be said on a bigger scale.

When companies don’t have the resources to get something done, they get outside help. If there are problems with their efficiency, they hire an efficiency expert to come and look at the problem. When an aircraft accident is being investigated there are a lot of factors that come into play. This raises the need for many experts on many aspects. In this paper I intend to discuss aspects of a few key players in accident investigations, their recent recommendations for safety improvements, and what they can bring to the table to try and reduce the number of accident investigations that take place.

The most prominent organizations dealing with accident investigation are the National Transport

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One of the big players in an accident investigation is the Office of Accident Investigation (AAI). The AAI is the main force within the FAA, as well as everything dealing with the NTSB, when it comes to accident investigation. Their mission is to “investigate aviation accidents and incidents to detect unsafe conditions and trends and to coordinate the corrective action process” (1). When you read an NTSB accident investigation report you will come to a section called “recommendations”. The AAI has a big part in this. They are responsible for giving recommendations as well as making sure the FAA is complying with those regulations. Let’s go in to a little detail of how they operate.

One Low-tech fix that I though good was the standardization of runway signs, improved lighting and runway marks. I know when I am on the road in a different city I don’t like it when the streets don’t make sense to me. Why would a pilot feel any different? After years of complaining about these things, and a Detroit collision in 1991, the FAA developed its “runway incursion plan” which ordered airports to standardize their signs and improve lighting” (Marks). This January should see a revised incursion plan from the FAA which will include “standardized paintings of runways and taxi routes, improved lighting, and increased radio frequencies at some of the busier airports to be sure communications are clear between controllers and pilots” (Marks)

A change that may not be high-tech but is still high-priced is a push for safer airline seats. In class we talked a little about this subject, more along the lines of the seats being turned around. I still don’t understand how that would be safer but the article I came across had some great input. In the article “FAA Pushes For Safer Airline Seats” (Fiorino) we learn that the FAA “is seeking to require that all passenger and flight attendant seats in Part 121 transport aircraft operations meet improved crashworthiness standards” (Fiorino). What I found interesting was that, according to some NTSB tests, “evidence shows that aircraft accidents are survivable” (Fiorino).

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The AAI analyzes “accident and incident data as well as other safety data to identify safety issues and trends” (1). This is the part of their job that helps them determine the “why” an accident happened. As we learned in class they look at everything from ground scarring to burn patterns and wreckage distribution. Once they have gathered and analyzed all the data the AAI is responsible for making recommendations and “ensuring that the FAA fully addresses (these) safety issues and recommendations” (1). Once the recommendations are made the AAI is responsible for “coordinating and tracking FAA responses to safety recommendations issued by the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA must provide the Board with its course of action to address each initial safety recommendation within 90 days after the issue date” (2).

Some topics in this essay:
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