Beyond the Black Box : The Forensics of Airplane Crashes

by Bibel, George

• ISBN13: 9780801886317
• ISBN10: 0801886317
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-12-19
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

The black box is orange -- and there are actually two of them. They house the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, instruments vital to airplane crash analyses. But accident investigators cannot rely on the black boxes alone. Beginning with the 1931 Fokker F-10A crash that killed legendary football coach Knute Rockne, this fascinating book provides a behind the scenes look at plane wreck investigations. Professor George Bibel shows how forensic experts, scientists, and engineers analyze factors like impact, debris, loading, fire patterns, metallurgy, fracture, crash testing, and human tolerances to determine why planes fall from the sky -- and how the information gleaned from such reconstructions is incorporated into aircraft design and operation to keep commercial aviation as safe as possible.

Author Biography

George Bibel, a former NASA summer faculty fellow, is a professor of mechanical engineering at the School of Engineering and Mines, University of North Dakota. He recently completed the Air Line Pilots Association Advanced Accident Investigation Course.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
The Crash Investigation Process	p. 1
How Planes (Often) Crash	p. 12
In-Flight Breakup	p. 58
Pressure, Explosive Decompression, and Burst Balloons	p. 87
Jet Propulsion, Burst Engines, and Reliability	p. 168
Metal Fatigue: Bending 777s and Paper Clips	p. 219
Combustion: Fire and Explosion	p. 251
Crash Testing	p. 292
Human Tolerances to G Loads and Crash Forces	p. 336
Notes	p. 365
References	p. 375
Index	p. 387
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