Lisa's Blog: One week down, One to go!

I just finished my first week of Aviation Accident Investigation with the NTSB. It has been a really interesting class with fascinating instructors and some intense scenes of what happens in an aircraft accident. Our instructors are all people who are the best at what they do. They're the ones who are part of the "Go Team" that deploys to major accidents. The are specialists in their fields and I would want them around if something bad happened.

There are a lot of interesting people in my class too. There are about 50 people from all over the world - some work for the government, some fly for corporate companies, some are instructors, some are military. It's pretty diverse, but we're all getting to know each other well since we're all trapped in an auditorium together for 2 weeks. I have been having lunch with fighter pilots, flight school instructors and a lady from Slovenia. What an experience.

There have been several "difficult" things we have seen or heard. We've heard air traffic control tapes, listening to pilots as they crashed. We've seen pictures of debris from fires, in-flight break-ups and "smoking holes" on the ground with not much left that resembles an aircraft. We've studied survival factors, cockpit voice recorders, and probably the eeriest thing we got to see was the wreckage/reconstruction of TWA 800. And that's just the first week. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity.

TWA 800 Reconstruction