Organizing an Air Accident - Essay Sample

Introduction

Throughout the history of aviation, situations have arisen in which, due to mechanical failure, bad weather or any other circumstance, the aircraft have been damaged or have been in serious danger. Search and Rescue (SAR), is the entity, which supervises, communicates, coordinates, provides medical assistance in a dangerous situation and is responsible for safeguarding people in a dangerous situation, through the use of public and private resources (Li & Baker, 2007). However, not all member countries adopt the methods recommended by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) because many countries do not have the economic and financial capacity to adopt all the guidelines recommended by ICAO. But with funding from entities charged with the facilitation of bank loans, it is possible to implement almost any project, provided it is feasible and affordable, and so in this Project guidelines will be given on how it would be possible to implement the acquisition of an aircraft specialized in search and SAR rescue with the respective equipment (Janic, 2000). It will be presented from the model of the aircraft, type of equipment necessary to provide the service, the financial framework and how it should be financed.

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Air navigation has raised a myriad of legal problems that legislators could not foresee, especially among them, those that derive from the accidents, a complex branch of Air Law or Aeronautics, that nowadays feels the need for special regulation in order to respond to all the difficulties that are born from these incidents, due to the numerous legislative gaps and silences, both national and international. Knowing these gaps and legislative silences makes it convenient to subtract to the extent as much as possible all the legal regulations that apply to this matter, from the first attempts to establish regulations for the investigation of accidents and incidents and the legal framework to provide solutions to the issues arising from them related to the responsibilities of the aeronautical agents and the amounts of corresponding compensation (Janic, 2000).

While it is true that each accident or fatal incident could be considered an isolated case in relation to the rest, it is no less true that the observations accumulated by the aviation authorities, during the process of investigating of accidents and fatal incidents in this area of operation, allow to identify a series of contributory elements that, to a greater or lesser extent, can be considered common in them.

This essay on general aviation accidents is aimed at improving the safety culture among professionals and aeronautical organizations to contribute to the prevention of future accidents and serious incidents it is the responsibility of all the agents involved to contribute to the improved continuity of operational safety. It is a reflection on the roles of an aircraft safety operator on the importance of the better need for details on incident and accident investigations aimed at preventing accidents in the future. It covers the basic planning and procedural steps of a detailed accident or incident investigation.

In New Zealand, aviation-related investigations on aviation accidents and incidences are conducted under the Convention of the International Civil Aviation (ICA) (Stolzer, Halford, & Goglia, 2011) . In accordance with article 26 and 37 of the convention, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) issued Annex 13, which sets the international standards and recommendations on accident and incidences investigation. New Zealand domestic laws contain the Civil Aviation Act (CAA) which carries the Civil Aviation Rules. CAA accident and incident investigations are conducted in accordance with the ICAO regulations. The investigations are carried out to establish the causes of the accident and developing future preventive measures (Stolzer et al., 2011).

After the helicopter EC120B fatal accident report, ZK HTF 05/3501, I was mandated to lead the rescue mission giving the details of the steps and measures taken by the CAAND upon the incidence. The helicopter was privately owned and took off from Papakura on 5th March 2006 headed to Queenstown. The helicopter was reported missing the day of taking off and was found South of Raglan near the slopes leading to Mt. Karioi.

Having worked in the sector, I was appointed the investigator in charge; I will immediately establish working groups made up of professionals for the purpose of the search and rescue operations. I will lead a rescue team that will comprise the Secretary of Transport, Commissioner of Police, Air Component Commander from the defence forces, director of civil aviation, and the director of maritime. Each member of the team is mandated to carry a specific role, for the success of the mission. After making sure all the members of the team are all set at Wellington, where there is an already set military airport. The media personnel will also be critical in this case; in order to be providing media briefs which will help in encouraging public interests and responsibilities. The council provides all the required strategic coordination for all search and rescue operations. The council will require support from the Secretariat in the ministry of transport. The family and close associates of the pilot will be contacted. I will then visit relevant authorities, starting with the Australian Rescue Coordination Centre (Australian RCC) which is responsible for the international satellite system, the distress beacon system. The helicopter in the accident was connected with the advanced 406 MHZ beacon, which was to receive a signal after take-off (Stolzer et al., 2011).

After receiving important information from Australian RCC, I proceeded to interview resourceful people linked to the occurrence. This would provide me with any necessary information that would inform me of the condition of Mr. Ecreg. After speaking to the family and connections o Mr. Ecreg, I will proceed to interview a number of pilots and observers in Auckland and the surroundings who will assist in the search.

After doing the interviews, I will supervise a team of RCCNZ to search for Raglan to Wanganui, listening if there could be some beacon signals while still conducting a visual search. This operation will start from where the last radar signal was recorded. If the search is not fruitful in a day, I will also incorporate a team of private helicopters to assist in the search while maintaining coordination with the official ones. In case of any signal detection, I will deploy police officers to attend and trace the signals. To achieve accuracy, I will direct the search team to form smaller groups to conduct searches and to give feedback. While the searches go on, I will be assigning data experts to review the GPS details. After reviewing the data and applying the radar search, further technology might be used.

Once the teams arrive at the place of the accident, I will coordinate with the military or police authorities to search support, protection, and custody of the remains and prevent the entry of outsiders into the site. Field inspection is a task that must be carried out in a timely manner and strict since it is considered as the base and support of all research. I will take into account the general examination of the remains is done. I will find out with clear precision the point where the initial shock with the land and/or trees and follow the trajectory of the aircraft trying to discover traces or marks, until the endpoint where the aircraft was at rest. Subsequently, the general description of the remains and their location, establishing the probable trajectory of flight, the angle of the impact and if there was any structural break before the impact principal.

I will also conduct the taking of photographs. Before the remains are removed, photographs will be taken in a general way making a total coverage of the area within the 360 and a general view of the area, following the trajectory of the flight, to the point of final impact. Also, we proceed to take pictures independently, to key components like instrument panel in shape, Position of the cabin controls Radio stations tuned, Position of the switches, fuel system.

Next, I will come up with a sketch of the distribution of the remains. The sketch of the distribution of the remains will be drawn up as they are on the ground, taking the distances and markings of the main parts and the pieces of these, until completing the content of the aircraft, location of the victims and the impact traces with relation to the ground. Likewise through Conventions must register the location of the main components, parts, and accessories. When it is considered that the physical characteristics of the land have been able to some interference with the accident and magnitude of structural damage is they must represent within the sketch.

After taking the necessary details of the plane remains, I will ensure that the evidence is under safe custody. It is convenient that all the remains of the aircraft are protected, in order to avoid looting and destruction of evidence, for which the investigator will proceed to impart the necessary instructions in order to find a suitable and safe place so that the tests remain intact and safe, for later analysis and inspection. When it is considered necessary to carry out tests and inspections of components, I will immediately proceed to notify the owner or exploiter and he will choose a specialized laboratory for analysis respective.

I will then collect the information and hand it to the regional and officials of the Technical Control Units (Dempsey, 2004). These officials will then prepare the pre-established preliminary report for such effect within 72 hours of the occurrence of the accident, attaching the corresponding photographs and sketches. If the aircraft has flight recorders and voice recorders installed, they will be disassembled in immediately and sent to the prevention and research Group.

As the investigator in charge I will maintain communication and coordinate the activities of the investigation with other organizations; organs and parts; arrange the critical agreements to easy coordination; and authorize the status of observer; perform as spokesperson for the process of investigation; and adopt the right measures that correspond extend contracts and arrange other necessary financial commitments.

I will divide the rescue team into two categories into both technical and operational categories. The operational category will comprise the Operations; medical aspects / witnesses; flight recorders; meteorology; air traffic services / airports; survival; and security in the cabin. The Technical team will comprise the following the maintenance and records personnel; facilities; structures; motor-propellers; site survey; and photography / video.

Each group will have a responsibility to perform in the course of the investigation process. Normally, the activities of these groups end after the investigation process is over and they have submitted a comprehensive report on their findings to the officer in charge.

The media forms a key role in our days when it comes to approaching reality. In the case of aviation, they also have a complex function, providing very specialized and technical information to citizens. Also, the administrations responsible for extinguishing devices can voluntarily avail themselves of the CLIF investigation procedure when they suffer a serious accident among their workers. This procedure defines in a generic way the steps to be taken and the way to organize the research works, with the final objective of obtaining useful information to avoid the occurrence of similar cases in the future.

It was hard to locate the wreckage as it was concealed b...