A Field Guide to Airline Accident and Incident Investigation

When aviation incidents occur, the demand for immediate answers often leads to investigations that focus too narrowly on individual actions or produce reports that fail to drive meaningful systemic change. This practical guide offers aviation professionals a more effective path, bridging the gap between formal investigation principles and real-world airline application.

Written for those operating in complex operational systems, this book translates established investigation logic into clear, structured, and usable guidance specifically for internal safety investigations—the area where most organizational learning takes place.

• Provides a coherent framework for conducting investigations that are proportionate, evidence-led, and operationally credible.
• Focuses on real performance, recognizing that valuable insights often come from everyday incidents and near misses, not just major accidents.
• Integrates human factors, systems thinking, and practical investigation discipline to uncover deeper conditions shaping outcomes.
• Guides readers beyond simple error narratives to achieve the goal of understanding incidents well enough to make future outcomes safer.
• Experience-led guidance covering the process from initial notification and evidence preservation through analysis, findings, and organizational learning.

• Author: Pete McCarthy PhD
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Print Length: 139 pages
• Publication Date: May 4, 2026
• ISBN-13: 979-8258411631
• Dimensions: 152 x 8 x 229 mm (or 15.24 x 0.81 x 22.86 cm)
• Item Weight: 268 g
• Manufacturer/Publisher: Independently published

This guide is essential for safety professionals, investigators, and operational leaders in the aviation sector who need to conduct investigations fairly, rigorously, and with purpose.

Move beyond procedural checklists and theoretical manuals to adopt a disciplined approach designed to ensure the next outcome in aviation is safer and better.