Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You send a team to Brazil
You are an aviation accident investigator and you've just received news
that there was a crash of a commercial plane in Brazil. The pilot
had reported engine problems leading up to the crash. There were good weather
conditions when the crash took place.
You decide to send an investigator to Brazil.
"It's an easy call to say we need to investigate this," says Bill Yearwood.
He is a regional manager of aviation investigations. He says that in a case
like this it is important to find out what went wrong with the engine to cause
the crash.
In order to do this, the investigator must collect photos, interview as
many people as possible, get flight information from the operator and collect
information about the pilot, the aircraft and its maintenance. Securing the
evidence is vital.
If the cause of the crash is obvious, like in the case of an engine problem,
they need to secure the engine and take it to an overhaul facility. Then they
must take it apart to determine the problem.
"All the little bits of information help us discover new ideas on what
might help an aircraft survive an accident," says Yearwood.