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Type
Lecture

Learning from disaster – from aircraft accident investigation to safety management

Event organised by Ingenieurs et Scientifique de France (British Section)

Date
15 October 2024
Time
18:00 - 19:30 BST (GMT+1)
Location
Army & Navy Club
36 Pall Mall
London, SW1Y 5JN
United Kingdom

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Overview

On 22 August 1985, a British Airtours Boeing 737 aircraft suffered an uncontained engine failure on the runway at Manchester Airport resulting in a catastrophic fire and the death of 55 people. The accident had a profound effect on aviation safety thanks to the painstaking investigation by the Air Accidents Investigation branch and subsequent research conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority and Cranfield University amongst others.

Learning from disasters can be difficult, especially as evidence may seem to be conflicting or contradictory, and public reactions can vary from demands for blame and punishment to a desire to learn and prevent recurrence.

Investigators face the challenge of not only understanding what happened and why, but perhaps more importantly, needing to find ways in which a complex system can be improved. Recommendations made after the Manchester disaster focused particularly on passenger safety and while some were adopted, others were not. Overall, the lessons learned seem to have translated into tangible improvements in aviation safety, but where success means a lack of incidents and accidents, how are we sure?

Using examples from a 30 year career in safety, this presentation will look at how the investigative mindset is developed and how it helps us find order from chaos to identify opportunities to improve future safety performance.

After the lecture, there will be a networking drinks reception. A £10 contribution is required to attend the lecture and this will include the wine reception. If you would like to participate in these events, please proceed by using the 'book now' button which will enable you to register your interest by emailing [email protected] and you will be provided with the payment details. Otherwise, payment can be made by cash or card during your attendance.

Organised by

Ingenieurs et Scientifiques de France British Section

Ingenieurs et Scientifiques de France British Section

The British Section of IESF links Anglo-French engineering and science as part of a global French Learned Society.

Programme

17:30 - 18:00

Tea and coffee 

18:00 - 19:00

Lecture

19:00 - 19:30

Drinks reception

Speaker

Graham Braithwaite

Graham Braithwaite

Transport Systems

director

Read more

Graham Braithwaite

Professor Braithwaite is Director of Transport Systems - one of the eight industry-facing themes that make up Cranfield University. Transport Systems covers seven centres: Air Transport Management; Advanced Vehicle Engineering; the National Flying Laboratory Centre; Engineering Photonics; Integrated Vehicle Health Management; the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC); and Safety & Accident Investigation.

In 2017, Graham successfully led a collaborative bid for funding under the Research England’s Research Partnership Investment Fund to create a Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) which opened in 2021. This £67m development includes the UK’s first operational digital air traffic control tower (opened December 2018), a ‘hangar of the future’ research facility which houses a Boeing 737 donated by British Airways, and a ‘airport of the future’ building. Industry partners include Thales, Saab, Boeing UK, Inmarsat, Heathrow Airport, Etihad Airways, Boxarr, Aveillant, Blue Bear Systems, Connected Places Catapult, Satellite Applications Catapult and the IVHM Centre.

Graham’s main research interests are in the fields of safety management, accident and incident investigation, human factors and the influence of culture on safety. Having completed a BSc (Hons) degree in Transport Management and Planning and a PhD in Aviation Safety Management from Loughborough University and in 2012, was given the honour of ‘Distinguished Alumni’ for his work in aviation safety and education.

In 2011, Graham led the University’s successful bid for its third Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education - the highest honour that can be awarded to a UK academic institution. HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh presented the award at Buckingham Palace based on the University’s world-leading work in aviation safety. This was followed by the Flight Safety Foundation’s Richard Teller Crane Award for the University’s sustained corporate leadership in aviation safety.

Graham is the Accountable Manager for the University’s flying operation, the National Flying Laboratory Centre, and is also Professor in Safety and Accident Investigation. Since 2011, Graham has acted as an independent non-executive director on the Safety Review Board of TUI Northern Region Airlines (formerly Thomson Airways) and as Independent Safety Adviser to the Board of British Airways since 2015.

In February 2020, Graham collected the University’s sixth Queen’s Anniversary Prize – this time for the work of NFLC, which operates a unique SAAB 340B+ flying classroom and laboratory and light aircraft to provide an immersive flight test engineer course for over 20 UK Universities.

Graham is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the International Society of Air Safety Investigators.

For more information please contact:

Shelly-Ann Russell

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