Insights | Cranfield School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing

Lessons learned from key incidents with the Safety and Accident Investigation team

Written by Joni Pelham | May 18, 2023 8:26:26 AM

Thanks to a generous grant from the Lloyds Register Foundation we have been able to put together a series of videos so you can see some of our unique exhibits while our staff give you some comments.

All of these videos have been shot in 360 so you can interact with them and look around while our staff discuss the lessons we can learn.

1. Westland Lynx Ah.7 XZ668 lessons learned

A presentation by Craig Cattell on some of the lessons learned from the Westland Lynx Ah.7 XZ668 accident. Focusing chiefly on the need to be prepared via specialized training to improve escape chances in the event of helicopter inversion and sinking.

This accident occurred on a training flight over the sea near the former Yugoslavia. 

 

 

2. Boeing 737-400 Aft Bay lessons learned 

A presentation by Cengiz Turkoglu on some of the lessons learned from accidents using items in the Boeing 737-400 Aft Bay. Taking advantage of this unique access opportunity to discuss the criticality of maintenance involving the pressure hull and of jackscrew degradation monitoring.

The first accident discussed was caused by improperly repaired damage to the aft pressure bulkhead caused by a tail strike. 

The second was caused by degradation in the jackscrew which was not properly monitored. 

3. Eurocopter Super Puma EC225 lessons learned

A presentation by Alan Parmenter on some of the lessons learned from accidents using the Eurocopter Super Puma EC225 as an example of design challenges when adapting a legacy vehicle design for new uses.

This aircraft crashed into the sea during approach to land at an oil rig after the crew lost situational awareness.

 

 

4. Pendolino Carriage lessons learned

A presentation by Janos Rozsa on some of the lessons learned from the 2007 Virgin Trains Pendolino Grayrigg accident. Highlighting the extreme nature of the crash and the role of expert operators in preventing accidents and in actively managing operational risks. 

 

 

 

5. Boeing 737-400 cockpit lessons learned

A presentation by Dr Joni Pelham on some of the lessons learned from the 1989 Kegworth air crash using the cockpit of the Cranfield University 737-400. This accident occurred after a failure in the port engine which led to an inflight shut down of the starboard engine by mistake.

Highlighting the need to take the right amount of time to make high criticality or urgent decisions and the role of experience in informing how much time is available for those important decisions.

 

We hope we will be able to take students and guests around our exhibits very soon and to be able to continue our work of learning from accidents and sharing these lessons in person.

Follow this link for more information on the Safety Accident Investigation Centre at Cranfield University.