HS Students Practice Crash Site Investigation At ERAU | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.20.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.21.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.15.24 Airborne-AffordableFlyers-05.16.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.17.24

Mon, Apr 20, 2009

HS Students Practice Crash Site Investigation At ERAU

Unique Hands-On Crash Lab Is One Of A Kind

Students from Col. Denny Peeples' class in the Aerospace Science Leadership Academy at Arizona's Prescott High School were given a hands-on opportunity to learn about on-site accident investigation last week at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's nearby Prescott campus.

Visiting ERAU's crash lab, Prescott High students were invited to conduct investigations of full-scale accurate mock-ups of real crashes with the guidance of Embry-Riddle students, who gave them a "short course in accident investigation, basic ground school," ERAU master's student Erich Skoor told the Arizona Republic.

"The first thing we want them to do is look at the four corners of the accident; we want them to take the time to really look at the accident," Skoor said. "At this point we want them to determine how the plane crashed, not necessarily why it crashed."

"This is a unique experience for these students. ERAU is the only university in the country with a crash lab like this," Peeples said. "No other students in the state, or the country have this only 10 minutes from their campus."

Peeples said the investigations were presented realistically, starting out with very little information, forcing the students to take a hard look at the clues before them. Then little by little, more information was revealed, such as details about the pilot, the route of the flight, and weather conditions.

With a group investigating the crash of a Varga Kachina, Prescott High junior David Petrovich said, "This is a neat opportunity to come here. It is an opportunity to learn about various crashes." The goal of each exercise was to figure out what happened, why it happened, and if weather conditions played a part in the crashes, Petrovich said.

ERAU undergraduate Chris Horton led another group of students around the wreckage of a Cessna Caravan. Explaining how to look for ground scars, cabin position at impact, the cockpit at impact and the plane's instrumentation, Horton said, "We let them figure out what happened."

ERAU Safety Science professor William Waldock said the crash lab got its start in 1987 on another part of the campus with only three crash sites. The crash lab moved to its present location in 1995, and now boasts eight fully mocked up real crashes on eight and a half acres.

"We use the crash sites to teach people who to investigate accidents. We try to recreate the actual crashes as close as possible," Waldock said.

FMI: www.erau.edu/pr/index.html

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.19.24): Back-Taxi

Back-Taxi A term used by air traffic controllers to taxi an aircraft on the runway opposite to the traffic flow. The aircraft may be instructed to back-taxi to the beginning of the>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.19.24)

“Our WAI members across the nation are grateful for the service and sacrifice of the formidable group of WASP who served so honorably during World War II. This group of brave>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.20.24)

“Many aspiring pilots fall short of their goal due to the cost of flight training, so EAA working with the Ray Foundation helps relieve some of the financial pressure and mak>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.20.24): Blind Speed

Blind Speed The rate of departure or closing of a target relative to the radar antenna at which cancellation of the primary radar target by moving target indicator (MTI) circuits i>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.20.24)

Aero Linx: International Airline Medical Association (IAMA) The International Airline Medical Association, formerly known as the Airline Medical Directors Association (AMDA) was fo>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC