Safety

PAUL CIANCIOLO
FAA Faces
Jeff Guzzetti
Manager, FAA Accident Investigation Division
“When I was a kid, I always looked up when I
heard an airplane,” Jeff explains. “It was, and still is,
an all-consuming ‘affliction.’ I have always had an
inherent love for aviation and space.” Growing up in
the shadow of the Apollo space program can have
that effect on a person. Jeff wanted to be an astronaut,
but he didn’t have the eyesight needed at the time to
become a military pilot. That didn’t stop him from
fulfilling the primal need to hop into a cockpit and fly.
Jeff enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
after learning from Time magazine that it was
considered “The Harvard of the Skies.” He earned his
private pilot certificate, but later wound up switching
to aeronautical engineering. His first stint with the
FAA was as a student intern at the William J. Hughes
Technical Center in Atlantic City, where he got to set
parts of airplanes on fire to conduct research of fireretardant
materials.
“I developed a morbid fascination with aircraft
accidents during these internships,” notes Jeff. “I also
flew in different types of helicopters in an effort to
characterize the wake turbulence they generate. This
study helped further define safe separation standards
behind rotorcraft.”
After a job as a safety engineer for the Navy, Jeff
spent two years working for Cessna Aircraft Company
in Wichita assisting FAA and NTSB investigators
with identifying key parts of Cessna airplanes
at crash sites across the country. After that, he was
recruited by the NTSB to be a general aviation (GA)
field investigator. During his 17-year hitch with
NTSB, Jeff also served as an aerospace engineer
for the NTSB “go-team” and worked several major
aviation investigations, including the loss-of-control
(LOC) accident that killed JFK Jr. His varied experiences
led to a promotion as NTSB’s deputy director
for regional aviation operations, requiring executivelevel
oversight of the investigation, analysis, and
probable cause determination of nearly 1,600 GA
accidents each year.
Following a short time with the DOT Inspector
General, Jeff returned to accident investigation work
by joining the FAA’s Office of Accident Investigation
and Prevention. He leads the division that serves as
the FAA’s primary liaison to the NTSB and controls
the policies and procedures for all FAA employees
who become involved with investigating an accident
or incident. It is staffed by a small group of the
agency’s most senior investigators who launch with
the NTSB “go-team” on major aviation accidents and
incidents around the world.
During an aircraft accident investigation, the
NTSB determines the cause while the FAA implements
improvements to prevent future accidents. “I
like to think of our office as a powerful and honest
broker to facilitate safety improvements in aviation,”
Jeff said. “We are not enforcers or rule-makers.
Rather, we are independent investigators who get
the big picture which we then communicate to those
at FAA who are in a position to accelerate a safety
action such as an emergency airworthiness directive,
a procedural change, or a new safety priority.”
The division also reviews all daily GA accidents
and incidents that are reported and posts basic data on
these events for the public to see at www.asias.faa.gov.
Jeff has seen a lot of aircraft accidents, and his
advice for pilots to prevent losing control of the
aircraft is to have a healthy respect for that aircraft.
“The airplane doesn’t care how rich or poor you
may be, what job you have, or where you come from,”
he notes. “It will respond only to what you are doing
at any given moment in the cockpit — and it will
kill you and your passengers if you let it. A healthy
respect means constantly learning and remembering
everything there is to know about the airplane’s
operation, including stall speeds for all configurations
and situations.”
Jeff has taken this advice to heart while advancing
his own flying skills in recent years. In addition to his private
pilot training, he also earned instrument, glider, and
seaplane ratings as well as a commercial pilot certificate.
“I have never flown professionally, but I love to fly.”