The Scientific Investigation of Aircraft Accidents

Aircraft investigation is here treated as a problem in detection, calling for observation and deduction, and sometimes for scientific experiments to test tentative explanations. After consideration of preliminaries, such as the discovery and retrieval of the wreckage and its reconstruction as a jig‐saw puzzle, most of the principal methods for ascertaining the cause of an accident are described under separate heads. It is shown how the different lines of investigation may proceed more or less simultaneously, and may substantiate each other. They include the analysis of fractures and the study of scratches, marks and indentations. Disruption of mechanical and electrical components is considered and also the evidence of eye‐witnesses. Consideration is also given to methods that can be used even when no wreckage is available. The treatment is essentially practical as it proceeds from one specific example to another, with several illustrations taken from actual cases. The paper concludes with a few remarks on modern trends, which do not appear likely to upset any of the basic principles here described.