Mishap investigation training changes course

Published Nov. 22, 2005
By Kendahl Johnson
311th Human Systems Wing Public Affairs

BROOKS CITY-BASE, Texas (AFMCNS) -- Many Air Force flight surgeons and aerospace physiologists as well as some psychologists will have the opportunity to participate in an aircraft mishap investigation at some point in their careers. To best prepare students for that eventuality, a retiring colonel recently helped overhaul the existing Aircraft Mishap Investigation and Prevention course, moving from a primarily lecture-based format to a hands-on, problem-based learning approach.

Just three months prior to his retirement, Col. Steve Kinne, former General Preventive Medicine Residency Director at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, was asked to fill in for the recently appointed course director, Col. Liz Clarke, who deployed short-notice to Iraq.

He evaluated course critiques from former students and noted the consistent comments about it being "death by Powerpoint," and "not practical." The students wrote they didn't leave the course feeling comfortable in their ability to participate in a safety investigation board. A safety investigation board convenes after an aircraft mishap to determine what went wrong and how to prevent something similar from happening in the future. He therefore proposed a shift to a much more active, hands-on approach and was given a free hand to implement such changes.

"I'm a big fan of experiential education and problem-based learning versus primarily using a passive transfer of information through lectures," Colonel Kinne said. "With power-based learning, you give teams of students problems to solve, access to proper information, guidance and mentorship, and you let them learn primarily through self-discovery."

When Colonel Kinne took over as course director, his primary goal was to reengineer the course using the problem-based learning format, employing the study of actual aircraft mishap cases from the past. However, rather than presenting them through lectures, course instructors presented background information and then allowed teams of students to analyze actual mishap information. They came to their own conclusions as to what they thought happened and made recommendations on future prevention. They would then hear how their conclusions compared to the actual Safety Board's final report.

Students also participated in scripted role playing of mishap interviews, analyzed scenarios involving life support equipment failures and studied pieces of equipment salvaged from prior mishaps. The latter was facilitated by Geoff Shidler, an engineer from the USAFSAM's life sciences equipment laboratory and a veteran of more than 150 mishap investigations. He used equipment taken from actual mishaps to instruct the students. "It was like a 'show and tell.' We'd show artifacts from previous mishaps and let them tell us what they learned from examining the equipment," Mr. Shidler said.

"The students would examine all the evidence in depth and try to figure out what happened," Colonel Kinne added. "Basically, we were teaching them to be investigators; we wanted them to have an investigative mindset."

A very important element of the course is a hands-on, mishap field exercise, so Colonel Kinne set about creating a new "mock" aircraft crash site. "I wanted something different from what everyone has seen before and also something that would give students a more realistic idea of what an actual mishap site might be like," the colonel said.

He contacted Denise Martin of the Brooks Development Authority and presented his plan. Ms. Martin jumped on board and assembled a team who helped design a new accident site, complete with a excavating a large impact crater. She also introduced him to some contractors who were gutting a building on base to see if they could get him scrap metal to add to the site.

"I spent several weeks dumpster diving, hauling scrap metal pieces to the accident site and tearing them apart" Colonel Kinne said. "A group of folks from USAFSAM helped me paint the parts and lay them all out so it looked somewhat convincingly like a crash where the aircraft disintegrated on impact." Some real aircraft parts from Randolph AFB, discarded equipment from the Brooks Life Support Lab, and two fully equipped mannequins were added to complete the realism of the site.

While the crash site and scenario was being built, Colonel Kinne finalized the curriculum and assembled his instructor cadre. He worked with each instructor on the new format and helped prepare them for two weeks of hands-on instruction.

Lt. Col. Thomas Clarke, one of the key AMIP course instructors, presented a mishap from a special operations mission where he'd been a part of the investigation. He said presenting real cases in a hands-on format significantly improved student learning. "Bringing the extra realism of having the students work through actual case data really enhanced the value of the course," Colonel Clark said.

When the course finished, the next step was to elicit student evaluations to determine success or failure of the revamped course. The positive response from the students was overwhelming. "The critiques indicate that this course actually exceeded all of our expectations," Colonel Kinne said. "The students all said that, in leaving this course, they were confident that they could immediately be called upon and perform effectively as a Safety Investigation Board member."

The experts agreed with the students. Dr. Rodger Vanderbeek, director of plans and programs for the 311th Human Systems Wing, is a former pilot physician who has more than a decade of experience with safety investigation boards. He said the new course gave students a much more in-depth and comprehensive approach to analysis. "The graduates of this course could go out and do a mishap investigation with nearly complete confidence and comfort as an expert investigator," he said. "It gave them a new level of expertise and exposure, making them better equipped to perform a mishap investigation."

Colonel Kinne said experiential education is challenging because it takes more work, creativity and active staff facilitation than lecture-based teaching, but he hopes more course directors follow the example his team has set. "This is how we should be doing a lot of courses," he said. "It's an extremely powerful method of learning, much more so than sitting in class and listening to lectures all day."

Colonel Kinne said he leaves the Air Force on a particularly high note, having accomplished something so positive.

Mishap investigation course changes