Thu, Nov 30, 2006
Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.")
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you
may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be
something we might never have considered before, or something that
didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized
it for the practical test.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you
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Aero-Tips 11.30.06
Aircraft mishap reports
can be tremendously instructive. The tragedy of accidents may be
lessened, slightly, if we are able to learn lessons from others'
experience, and avoid similar mishaps in the future.
After a "reportable" mishap in the U.S. there is a succession of
reports issued by the National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB). Other nations often have very similar
procedures for investigating and reporting aviation accidents.
After a reportable mishap expect to see this sequence of NTSB
reports:
- Preliminary report. The "prelim" states the
basic facts of the case as known on initial investigation.
Information is sometimes detailed, but is often quite limited as
the preliminary report is usually released within days, and no more
than a month, after the accident. Preliminary reports carry the
cautionary flag "This is preliminary information, subject to
change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be
corrected when the final report has been completed." Information
contained in preliminary reports is often found to be incorrect or
even misleading in later, more detailed reports.
- Factual report. An NTSB "factual" might be
considered a status update in an ongoing investigation. Sometimes
the factual contains more information, and sometimes it's
disappointingly similar to the preliminary report. Factuals are
usually issued between seven and 12 months after the accident; they
are still subject to correction as (and if) the investigation
continues. Mishaps outside the United States but involving
U.S.-manufactured airplanes often first appear on NTSB records in
the form of a factual report, and usually do not proceed beyond
this level.
- Probable cause report. The "probable cause" is
the final NTSB report on an accident, and is usually available one
to two years after the date of mishap. To the extent that prime
causal effects can become known, the probable cause states what is
considered to be the definitive reason for the accident. The report
usually contains quite a bit of information about the pilot,
aircraft and flight environment that supports the probable cause
finding.
You can search for NTSB preliminary, factual and probable cause
reports online. A monthly synopsis is also available.
Once a URL is established for a specific accident's reports, it
remains the same throughout, i.e., the preliminary report is no
longer available when a factual or probable cause report is issued
because it uses the same web link.
Aero-tip of the day: Learn from the experience
of others by studying and understanding NTSB reports.
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