| AIB PRESIDENT ARRIVES, EXPLAINS
INVESTIGATION PROCESS Accident Investigation
Board Public Affairs, Cape Canaveral AFS, Fl.
Patrick AFB, Fl. -- Maj Gen Robert C. Hinson, Air Force
Space Command’s director of operations, is in place and ready to lead the Accident
Investigation Board’s (AIB) inquiry into the Titan IVA mishap. The AIB will collect
and preserve evidence and produce a report on the mishap and its cause, if determined,
through the use of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Launch Mishap Investigation process
approved earlier this year.
The AIB is composed of experts in space operations, range
operations, maintenance and legal matters. A separate Safety Investigation Board is led by
Col Alexander Carlisle, chief of safety for the 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg
AFB, Calif.
The Mishap Investigation procedures allows for a team of contractors
and Air Force experts to perform an engineering analysis. They will evaluate the entire
launch process from an engineering standpoint. The AIB will integrate the data it collects
into its report, which is releasable to the public. Also, we will have incremental release
of factual information at appropriate points during the investigation.
"We will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the
cause of this accident and at the same time get releasable information out to the public
and to industry as quickly as possible," Hinson said. "Our Mishap Investigation
procedures will enable us to do that."
Hinson and the Board members are not tied to specific timelines.
"Our priority is to gather the facts about this incident to prevent it from happening
again," Hinson said. |
