Good reads on aviation crashes?

titansox

titansox

Well-Known Member
I don't know what it says about me, but I really fascinated by aviation crashes. I've seen every episode of air crash investigation/mayday/seconds from disaster. I was wondering if there are any good books out there that anyone can suggest. I did a google search but I was overwhelmed by all of the search results.
 
Not a book but, the NTSB has some pretty good final reports on their website. They are PDFs and usually quite a few pages.
 
fosters said:
Not a book but, the NTSB has some pretty good final reports on their website. They are PDFs and usually quite a few pages.
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:yeahthat:

Full NTSB reports are quite interesting reading. I get a real appreciation for accident chains when I read them...or the Swiss Cheese model.
 
You can read my synopses I write on particular accidents here on JC. Advanced search for keyword: accident, and username: MikeD; look to the far right and select the responses listed under the Technical Talk forum.
 
If you can part with $50 a year, NTSB Reporter is a good "magazine" that has several analyses of recent GA and commercial crashes.

I'm sure you can find the same info online for free though.
 
fosters said:
Not a book but, the NTSB has some pretty good final reports on their website. They are PDFs and usually quite a few pages.
Click to expand...
I had to read a good part of the NTSB report for American Eagle 4184 for a report I had to write. It wasn't bad at all but it was longgggg lol


MikeD said:
You can read my synopses I write on particular accidents here on JC. Advanced search for keyword: accident, and username: MikeD; look to the far right and select the responses listed under the Technical Talk forum.
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I'll have to check that out.

Holocene said:
If you can part with $50 a year, NTSB Reporter is a good "magazine" that has several analyses of recent GA and commercial crashes.

I'm sure you can find the same info online for free though.
Click to expand...
Hmm $50 a year isn't too bad. But If I can find it free that would be nice.
 
titansox said:
I don't know what it says about me, but I really fascinated by aviation crashes.
Click to expand...

I think is says that you might have a future in aviation accident investigation.

I was wondering if there are any good books out there that anyone can suggest. I did a google search but I was overwhelmed by all of the search results.
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As you found from your search there are many. If CVR transcripts interest you, The Black Box by Malcolm McPherson (there are two editions) may be a good place to start. It has synopses of several accidents, most of them fairly well known. For those that are of particular interest to you, you can use the references to delve deeper into them.
 
ATC RET 2003 said:
I think is says that you might have a future in aviation accident investigation.
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I'd be lying if I told you I haven't thought about that. I just don't know how I'd get my foot in the door. That being said, I'm currently at a CTI school study ATC and I'm happy with that.



ATC RET 2003 said:
As you found from your search there are many. If CVR transcripts interest you, The Black Box by Malcolm McPherson (there are two editions) may be a good place to start. It has synopses of several accidents, most of them fairly well known. For those that are of particular interest to you, you can use the references to delve deeper into them.
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Would be nice if I could find those at a library. That sounds interesting.
 
Check out MikeD's write-ups today. I crap you not, he could take over for Peter Garrison writing Aftermath for FLYING and it would be an upgrade - and I'm a huge fan of Garrison.
 
WacoFan said:
Check out MikeD's write-ups today. I crap you not, he could take over for Peter Garrison writing Aftermath for FLYING and it would be an upgrade - and I'm a huge fan of Garrison.
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I totally agree! MikeD does a fantastic job. Probably not enough dramatization to be in magazines though ;)

I read every NTSB fatal report, every year. Everyone should - while it may sound macabre, there is a lot to be learned that may keep you alive.
 
Agreed on both MikeD's contributions and Paul's suggestion of Macarthur Job's 4 volume 'Air Disaster' series.

Mr. Job was the editor of the (then) CAA's Aviation Safety Digest when that journal was one of the best in the world. The current CASA 'crash comics' are a joke by comparison. He has a very clear writing style, but still manages to cover the technical aspects in depth for the uninitiated.
 
Titansox once you finish your training you can sign up to go to classes on aircraft accident investigations in OK city, it is free part of the FAA's continuing education programs.
 
titansox said:
I'd be lying if I told you I haven't thought about that. I just don't know how I'd get my foot in the door.
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You'd be surprised at the backgrounds of some folks in the NTSB investigations. They take from a wide variety of fields, with a group of people to represent each financial interest. Check this one out:

http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Flight-427-Inside-Investigation/dp/1588340899

Very interesting section in there about the investigation's use of a speech pathologist who worked on the Exxon Valdez case. Basically, the guy could figure out the struggle, surprise, and exertion levels of both pilots based on voice changes. Cool stuff.
 
I would second/third MikeD's write ups. Personally I'd like to see Mike put it into a book format.
In addition:
"The Killing Zone" by Paul A. Craig. A study of how and why pilots crash. Also includes NASA reports of pilots who got into the same situations but managed to break the accident chain. I have several books that deal with aviation accidents and this is my favorite.
Aviation Safety Magazine. As a disclaimer I've written a few articles for them, but I do feel it is a good magazine.
Finally, as others have written, the NTSB database is a good source. You can search it by aircraft type, airport, state, or put in other search strings (such as stall/spin).
BTW, I think it's been a while since I've seen a new way to turn a perfect airplane into Coke cans... or whatever it is they do with plastic airplanes that have been wrecked.
 
I went ahead and got Aviation Disasters:The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes Since 1950 & The Mystery of Flight 427: Inside a Crash Investigation from my school's library. Although they are only giving me 10 days to read both which seems a bit unreasonable to me.
 
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