Citation

Matteson FH. J. Saf. Res. 1974; 6(2): 60-71.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1974, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The aircraft accident record was reviewed to determine the area where improved methods of investigation could provide the greatest likelihood of economic return. Fatal general aviation accidents were shown to result in the greatest economic loss and to have a little improvement in the accident rate over the past decade. Aides to general aviation accident investigators were developed. A digital computer was used to generate idealized wreckage patterns from in-flight disintegrations and to investigate the effects of wind direction, air speed, altitude, and vertical speed on the wreckage patterns. A regression based on the pattern studies was investigated, using only data obtainable after the accident. A graphics computer was used to regress a pattern to the initial heading and point of disintegration and to furnish the wind direction, when only the location and characteristics of the wreckage items were known.