A Historical Perspective on Aviation Accident Investigation

When the editor suggested that we write a piece for this 50 edition of the newsletter, it seemed appropriate to reflect on the longer term history of our field and, in particular, to focus on the topic of accident investigation which has been the focus of our previous work. In early 1928, the Assistant Secretaries for Aeronautics in the Departments of War, Navy, and Commerce in the United States, asked the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (N.A.C.A.) to develop a common approach for the analysis and reporting of aircraft accidents. In response to this request, the N.A.C.A. organized the Special Committee on the Nomenclature, Subdivision, and Classification of Aircraft Accidents. The following paragraphs review the work of this special committee and reflect on the changes that have taken place since this early initiative to learn from adverse events in aviation.