Journal of Accident Investigation

Figure 5. FDR data converted and inserted into the animation.
(still images from the animation).
DEVELOPING ANIMATIONS TO SUPPORT COMPLEX AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS
Elevator Control System
Studied the control system and used engineering
perspective to illustrate the mechanical systems.
Modeled the system with great detail using
manufactured engineering drawings and actual images
(figure 6).
Textured the components to produce a close
representation of the actual system.
Assembled the complex system and applied expressions
to animate and ensure all parts functioned accordingly.
Used appropriate effects and lighting to focus on
essential parts of the cable system.
Used multiple camera settings to capture the
relationship of the various components of the cable
system.
Composited the rendered sequence with recorded
narration (figure 8).
Flight Path
Imported a commercially available Beechcraft 1900D
model to XSI and modified it to meet our needs.
Created the airport runway and hangar with
documented and measured data using CAD; drew and
mapped the surrounding images of the airport.
Wrote XSI script to read the CVR text file and MS
Excel spreadsheet containing the simulation-derived
kinematics of the flight path as a function of time
(figure ).
Set up multiple cameras to best capture the attitude
deviations during takeoff.
Synchronized digital time, airspeed, and altitude data
with flight motion.
Reviewed data accuracy against airplane attitude and
motion to ensure accurate representation.
Composited the data-driven flight path, digital
time, altitude, and airspeed with selected cockpit
communication (figure 7).
During the Board Meeting, investigators had to convey their
findings clearly. It would have been challenging to explain the
airplane motion associated with the cable system using the still
image in figure 6. The animation provided a simple demonstration
of the cable system and showed how the nose-down control
NTSB JOURNAL OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, SPRING 2006; VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 27
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