Bart Henwood Aviation Safety Officer, NASA Armstrong Like all of you, I thought in general the article was very thought provoking. For airshows I think the real question is what level of planning and training is necessary to make this
As promised, this month’s edition of the Flight Test Safety Fact includes an editorial by LCDR Kurt Pfeffer (USCG). “I had a brief chance to meet Tom Huff as he spoke to our class finishing up at USNTPS (June 2017)
Des Barker has studied the intersection of aerial demonstration and flight test for many years, and his most recent paper is Airshow Accidents and Incidents 2018. He reports: “I have just finished a three year research task and hope to
In what we can only describe as “serendipity”, Flight Test Safety Committee chairman Tom Huff ran into Col Doug “Beaker” Wickert at a safety workshop in California, hosted by Northrop Grumman Corporation. That meeting set off a series of conversations
January 20th was the 45th anniversary of the accidental first flight of the YF-16. This phenomenon is not new, but it seems like “some of us” have not learned our lesson yet, with accidental first flights recurring in the closing
How do we disagree, and do so professionally and constructively, with our colleagues? That is the question I pose as you read the following feedback from a reader. “I will say that I much prefer people make any attempts at
Troy Soileau, an AFIT student, wrote to say this: “I personally don’t know how to get involved with the Flight Test Safety Committee, but I am eager to hear about possibilities.” I proposed three concrete actions as the next steps
In February 2016, Daniel “Mirf” Montes published his doctoral dissertation, “Using STPA to Inform Developmental Product Testing.” In it, he explains that STPA is “an engineering approach that identifies explicit causal scenarios for accidents.” In particular: “I developed a method
“I love it. It inspired me. “This feels like something I’d like to engage in. I’d like to try to attend the Charleston Flight Test Safety Worship in May 2019. I’m thinking whether there’s a recent topic I could propose
“Ten seconds,” I said. “Nine.” “…eight.” “…seven.” The silence pounded in my ears. “Six…five…four…” I could think of nothing else but the digital ticking of the clock in the heads up display (HUD), right in front of me. I don’t