About this Course

This course looks back at the history of airplane accidents. As tragic as airplane accidents are, there is still some good that can be extracted from them. The set of accidents included in this course was chosen for their watershed effects. Each one has had a lasting effect on the way the industry conducts its business. Each accident involved multiple engineering disciplines, and provided precursor information that, if recognized in time, might have prevented them. In most cases, airplane accidents yield a series of lessons that we have to learn in order to improve our understanding of complex situational interactions, and to prevent the recurrence of another accident under a similar set of circumstances. These lessons are not always obvious, and only reveal themselves after a thorough analysis of the accident. Many are high level lessons that are applicable over a range of airplane types, or are independent of airplane model, manufacturer, or airline. Learning these lessons, and being familiar with the circumstances of each of the accidents and their precursors, will provide you with the baseline knowledge that you need to effectively perform your duties, and potentially prevent a future accident.

Tips on Using the Course

Important Note: Due to the technical nature of many of the schematics used, this course is best viewed at a screen resolution of 1024 x 768, with a text size of "medium" or "smaller." In addition, pressing the F11 key will reduce the number of browser buttons that are displayed at the top of your screen and allow more room for the lesson content to be displayed. Press F11 again to return the buttons to the screen.

Printing: If you would like to print any screen in the course, you can use your browser print button to receive a hard copy of the complete page. Note that even if the page extends off of the screen it will be included in the printout.

The Site Map button on your screen can be used as an easy way to quickly go to a particular screen in the course. Selecting the Site Map button will display a menu of every screen in the course. Once you have completed the course, use the Site Map button as a resource to rapidly find the information you wish to view.

Select Next to return to the home page.