Goosebumps

I've taken 3 courses related to hardcore aviation this semester. One of them is a research project on a new breed of attitude indicators, the other is a runway and collision hazard analysis course for the Lambert International airport in St.Louis, MO and the third and most interesting course I've taken is Aviation Accident Analysis.

A part of me has always wanted to get into Air Crash Investigation, but I've felt that it isn't correct that my livelihood will depend on people dying. Well, this course has definitely changed my perspective on that. It is the job of the investigator to determine probable cause of the crash and prevent further such incidents. So, you're saving lives.

But a part of me always reacts in the same way. On my first day, the instructor told me that an investigator needs to be inquisitive and objective, not emotional. We've had several case studies throughout the semester and understood the process as a whole. Site anaylsis is just the beginning, then there's wreckage mapping, evidence sampling, witness interviewing. It's all part of a long process which will always have the media hovering around and misinforming the people. Hence, informing the media as and when we get any new information is critical. It will also have legal bindings and redundant jurisdictions which can be bent, not broken.

At the end of it all, the investigators will determine the probable cause of the crash and construct a virtual simulation on the computer of what actually happened during the last few moments of the crash. This information is determined using the data from the Flight Data Recorders(FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorders(CVR) among other things. When the last few moments of the flight plummeting are analyzed and explained a shiver runs down my spine. Everytime. During every investigation. This is because as an investigator, I must know how many people were on board, how many children. I must know how human error played a role in the accident. How some idiot forgot to check the pressure guage or the construction company would rather spend 4 million less on a flammable insulation for the cockpit instead of the non-flammable expensive one. And how, even today, there are so many things done wrong in aircraft manufacturing and maintainence, that if I'd mention them here, you would never fly again.

After gathering all the evidence, resisting your desire to shoot the person responsible for all those people's deaths, preparing your report and making the flight simulation, you have to get ready to explain the harsh reality to a room-full of people.

In the simulation video, the minute the flight slams into the ground or water, I have the same prolonged reaction.

Goosebumps!