Have you ever wondered how the NTSB investigates aircraft accidents? Or what happened to cause the aircraft to crash? If so, then SF 330 (Aircraft Accident Investigation) is the class for you! I just completed this class as part of my safety minor, and I am definitely glad I took this class.

The entrance to the Robertson Aircraft Accident Investigation Lab at ERAU Prescott.

Among the great knowledge that we learn throughout this course, the best part is that we get to spend time in the best Aircraft Accident Investigation lab in the nation! Led by our fearless leader Professor Waldock, SF 330 easily captures your attention and interest since day one. Professor Waldock is one of the greatest professors Embry-Riddle has. He is a prominent figure in the Aviation Safety industry and is highly respected as an aircraft accident investigator. The knowledge he shares with the class is invaluable because most of it is from his personal experiences. Time flies when in Professor Waldock’s class, as his stories bring the material to life! You should already want to take the class just to have Professor Waldock teach your class!

One of the numerous accidents in the crash lab.

So what do we learn? Literally everything that you need to know about how to investigate an accident. From impact patterns to determining power settings by looking at a propeller, from fire investigation to on-scene analysis, we cover it all. We put all our knowledge from the course together for our final project in which we get assigned a real accident in our crash lab to investigate. My group was given a Cessna 208B Caravan accident to investigate. Below is a picture of the accident we had to work with (click on the picture for a larger view).

The mangled cockpit of the Caravan.

Through our investigation, we determined the aircraft departed controlled flight as it was climbing, lost airspeed, stalled and entered into a flat spin to the right that resulted in 9 fatalities. Why did it do that? I’m glad you asked! The aircraft was trying to climb above IFR conditions, but flew through moderate icing at it was climbing to 17,000′. The airframe started to accumulate ice, which resulted in the loss of airspeed sufficient to maintain a climb. Due to the loss of airspeed, the wings stalled, and the aircraft immediately entered into a spin to the right due to the high weight of the aircraft and near-aft limit of the Center of Gravity (CG) (resultant from an incorrect weight and balance that was done too fast). The pilot did not execute a proper stall/spin recovery and the aircraft impacted the ground with approximately 100+ vertical G’s and killed the pilot and 8 occupants.

The wreckage as viewed from the right wing

There is more information I could write, but for the sake of reading, that is all I will put about the crash. If you want more detailed info, either leave me a message, or take SF 330 (Aircraft Accident Investigation) when you come to Embry-Riddle! Trust me, you will not regret your decision!

This summer I think will be the best summer yet. Why? I accepted the opportunity to intern with Alaska Airlines working under the Chief Pilot! I am absolutely enthusiastic about getting my internship because it has been my dream of mine to work for Alaska Airlines as a pilot since the age of 4. I know I will not be a pilot for them on this internship, but this is certainly a HUGE first step in the right direction towards that goal.

Where will I be? I will be in Alaska Airlines’ Flight Operations building located on the south east end of the SeaTac airport in Seattle, WA. What will I be doing? I will be assisting the Chief Pilot, the Manager of Flight Operations, and other Flight Operations employees with tasks, projects, reports, and presentations. I am not 100% sure, but I might get to run the aircraft simulators too! I will also be working with another Flight Operations intern in Technical Publications to accomplish various projects that might include some business travel. After talking with the Manager of Flight Operations, he said their past interns had to travel to Anchorage and LAX to complete a taxi time project. I have no idea what the project was, but it sounded pretty cool.

Me on an Alaska Airlines flight

The coolest part of the entire internship is the opportunity the opportunity to jumpseat in the cockpit! Essentially, this is job shadowing, but it is my chance to observe the Captain and First Officer as they fly. From before start all the way to shut down, I will be taking notes on how a normal flight is conducted. I will even get a chance to jumpseat and observe my inspiration to becoming a pilot and my mentor, my uncle!

737 Cockpit from the Co-Pilot’s side

Here is my speech of encouragement. Word hard for what you want to do. If you put in the effort, it WILL pay off. It sounds cheesy, I know, but it is honestly the truth! I worked hard, starting freshman year here at Riddle, to get this internship and was selected after 3 rounds of interviews. I highly recommend going for an internship. It is a terriffic learning experience where you get industry experience and put your foot in the door with an airline. I have friends interning with Delta, Express Jet, FedEx, Ameriflight, and Cape Air. The internships are out there. All you have to do is work hard and apply.

Are thinking of becoming a pilot, or want to do a flight minor, but are not sure if it’s right for you? When you’re here for Accepted Student Preview Day, come on over to the flight line and go up with us on an introductory flight in one of our state-of-the-art Cessna 172’s.

One of our Cessna 172’s

What will you do? Where will you go? I’m glad you asked! We are going to put you in the left seat with one of our great instructors and let you fly the plane! After you take-off, you will depart to one of our practice areas, which surround the entire Prescott area. In the practice area, you will do some maneuvers like steep turns, power on and off stalls, and slow flight! When you come back to the airport, the instructor will help you make the landing!

Probably the best part about this introductory flight is that you can log flight hours! If you are going to become a professional pilot, or want to get your private pilot’s license, this is a HUGE first step towards that goal. This is your chance to start early to accumulate hours towards the proposed 1,500 hour minimum rule for pilots. When you go to fly next, whether it is with Embry-Riddle or another place, the hours you got on this introductory flight count for the rest of your flying career! It doesn’t matter if it is training towards a license, or flying around for fun, the hour you got with us adds to all of your future flights!

The view in one of our practice areas.

We’ll help you make that first step towards being the best pilot possible. Pack your bags for April 13th and join us at Embry-Riddle Prescott. Come ready to fly, the skies are open, and we are awaiting your arrival!

If you haven’t heard yet, we are now boarding for your next stop along your college journey: Preview Day 2013. Every year, the Prescott campus invites accepted students and their families to come check out every inch of this amazing campus.

How much do you get to explore? As much as you want! With our doors wide open, we encourage you to look at our classrooms, dorms, demonstrations, and our flight line. You even have the opportunity to go up in one of our state-of-the-art aircraft and observe a current student and their instructor! Our hope is that when you come visit the Embry-Riddle Prescott campus, you feel that this is your college destination; your home away from home. On Saturday, April 13th, you have the opportunity to meet your future professors, talk with current students, and meet other accepted students!

Also during Preview Day, there will be meetings for you to learn more about classes, professors, and other information about your major. You get to receive your Eagle card/student ID and register for fall classes! When you arrive in the morning, we offer a delicious continental breakfast before the welcome address. In the afternoon, we invite you to our dining hall for a complementary lunch with other accepted students in your college and an opportunity to talk with current students while you eat.

If all that wasn’t enough, as part of our thank you for coming to Preview Day, we will give you our Embry-Riddle Travel Grant that will be added to your student account that will become a credit towards your first year! The amount depends on how far you traveled from home to our campus. If you have already visited our campus before, then you have already received this grant.

All we ask of you is that you please RSVP to http://prescott.erau.edu/admissions/preview/ so we can prepare materials for you. We will provide you with a schedule of the days events and other information.

I will be working on Preview Day for Admissions, so I hope to see you here on April 13th!

Hi! My name is Jason Kopczynski. I am from the awesome and sunny southern California, and I am definitely excited to be a junior here at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ! I am pursuing the Aeronautical Science major with a minor in Aviation Safety, as well as earning my flight certificates and ratings to include the Commercial license with the multi-engine and instrument ratings.

I also work in the Admissions Department as an Admissions Counselor Student Assistant and a Social Media Student Assistant. To add more fun into my college career, I am involved in a number of clubs like the Music club (drum line and jazz band), Air Line Pilots Association ACE club, Flight Safety Foundation. Additionally, I am the President of Catholic Campus Ministries and I am also an Assistant Scoutmaster in a local Boy Scout Troop here in Prescott.

I hope that you find what I do as a student as exciting as I am to live it! I also hope that you are able to learn more about what it is like to be an Aeronautical Science/flight student here at Embry-Riddle. Enjoy!

With the end of the semester approaching, one things stands between students and summer: finals. It is amazing how one word strikes fear in the eyes of most students. However, instead of dwelling on the negatives, I would like to briefly tell you about my classes this past semester!

First off is Principles of Management, which our professor is also a business consultant. I really enjoyed this course. I have always found that managing things (marching band as drum major in high school or senior patrol leader in boy scouts both having 100+ members) to be fun and interesting and this is basically what the course was! The next class after a lecture was a case study or an exercise that followed the same concepts that were in the chapter, but applied to real-life situations that sometimes our Professor dealt with! That really but a unique spin on the course.

Next is Flight Physiology which was very interesting to learn about how the various parts of the body relate to a flight environment and how the body can provide illusions that lead to spatial disorientation!

Aircraft Performance was a great class, technical, but helpful. The big project of the semester was to do a paper on an aircraft and make performance charts based off of the data that you found. This was difficult, but it was a great learning tool of how the various bits of data change the parameters of an aircraft’s performance!

Lastly, I took Turbine Engines. I really did not know hardly anything about a turbine engine before taking the class, and now, I know so much that I can get nerdy around one! This was basically the professors goal – to beat the turbine information into our heads so we can be intelligent when talking about turbines. The big thing is this class was the term paper on a turbine engine of our choice. I chose mine to be the PW150A, which is found on the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. And surely enough, I know that engine inside and out!

Overall, this semester was great. I learned a lot in each class (I know this sounds cliche, but I am completely serious!). I mainly took a lot of core classes for my major this semester and I am pleased with the education I have received thus far! Next week is finals, then I can enjoy the relaxing and fun summer! If you have finals, or midterms coming up, may you have the best of luck!