Behind the scenes at the NTSB
Posted by webmaster on November 2, 2009 | No Comments
By Matthew Griffin
Last week several ACI-NA staffers were fortunate enough to tour the National Transportation Safety Boards (NTSB) accident investigation labs. NTSB is an independent federal agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents and providing safety recommendations to industry and government.
During our visit to NTSB, we toured four research labs that are integral to the accident investigation process. We first stopped at the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) labs. These two devices are the infamous “black boxes,” which are actually painted bright orange, and often provide the last moments of a flight accident. Both boxes are normally held in the tail of an airplane and are constructed to withstand accident impacts, post accident fires, and water depths up to 20,000 feet. Each device is also fitted with a sonar pinger that is required to last for a full 30 days. A great deal of press has been written about these boxes this past summer due to the Air France 447 accident which took place over the Atlantic Ocean.
The CVR lab holds a great deal of new and old technology and must be capable of reading everything from Mylar tape recorders to the newest technology which uses solid state memory, a lot like the memory in your flash drive. The NTSB is barred by law from releasing any audio for the CVR but will always create a transcript which will accompany the accident report. The FDR lab is responsible for downloading and analyzing the information recorded on the FDR, including heading, altitude, pitch, yaw, roll, etc. The newest FDRs record more than 1,000 parameters. Although the FDR and CVR are always located on commercial aircraft, the techs in each lab noted the advent of GPS and newer “glass cockpit” technologies are also providing data that can assist in investigating general aviation accidents.
Our next stop was in the animation studios. After the CVR transcript is prepared and all of the accident flight parameters have been downloaded, the NTSB will sometimes create an animation to better aid in understanding the factors that led to the incident or accident. We watched an animation that had been prepared for the recent collision between a private Piper aircraft and a sightseeing helicopter over the Hudson River. In this case they were able to use radar tracks from the local ATC facilities and recorded tower communications to help demonstrate the last minutes of both flights. Aviation is often viewed as a complex industry. Any tool that can help the traveling public understand why an accident took place is crucial to maintaining the nation’s confidence in our airways.
Our final stop of the visit was in the materials lab. There is no second guessing what takes place in this large room. The first things you see are engine blocks, crankshafts, and other aircraft parts. After the initial investigation, the aircraft parts are brought here and documented, broken down, and studied for any type of fatigue and or failure which could have contributed to the accident or incident. We were reminded that the NTSB is still responsible for other transit accidents when we discussed some of the gusset plates that were responsible for the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007.
All in all it was fantastic visit. We at ACI-NA have a great deal of respect for the professionals that provide this demanding service, not only for our country but for the world.
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