Image: Muskoka stock photos/Shutterstock
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- Operations: the history of both a doomed flight and the duties of its crew "for as many days prior to the crash as appears relevant";
- Structures: the profile of "aiframe wreckage and the accident scene," including calculations of impact angles "to help determine the planes pre-impact course and attitude";
- Powerplants: an examination of the craft's engines, engine accessories, and propellers;
- Systems: a close study of the various components "of the plane's hydraulic, electrical, pneumatic and associated systems, together with instruments and elements of the flight control system" (this will be particularly crucial to the MH17 analysis, as it's currently unclear if the plane's blackbox, perhaps containing haunting last words, has or has not been located);
- Air traffic control: a reconstruction of the "services given the plane, including acquisition of ATC radar data and transcripts of controller-pilot radio transmissions (this can be a tough knot to unravel, as commercial flights aren't as closely monitored as one might think)
- Weather: a compilation of all official weather service data from the time of the flight and crash;
- Human performance: a study of "crew performance and all before-the-accident factors that might be involved in human error";
- Survival factors: a full documentation of "impact forces and injuries, evacuation, community emergency planning and all crash-fire-rescue efforts."