Page 14 - Index

ISASI Kapustin
Scholarship Essay
The following article is the first
of three essays from the 2021
Kapustin Scholarship winners
that were presented during ISASI
2021. The number of scholars
selected each year depends upon
the amount of money ISASI
members donate annually to the
scholarship fund. Details about
scholarship applications and ad-
ditional information can be found
on the ISASI website at www.
isasi.org. Application and essay
deadlines are mid-April of each
year.—Editor
The Challenges for Air Safety Investigators:
Taking Care of Mental Health and Well-Being

By Ao Sun, 2021 Kapustin Scholarship Recipient, Cranfield University, UK

Introduction paper is to identify and analyze the possible
Air accident investigators play an irreplace- causes of mental disorders among inves-
able role in the aftermath of an air crash, tigators during an accident investigation
not only by gathering critical information process and to make recommendations to
related to the accident, but also by dealing improve the well-being of investigators.
with the gruesome scenes and unbearable
smells of the crash site. This is undoubtedly Current Challenges for Accident
a tremendous physical and psychological Investigators
challenge to investigators. The priority of Most countries have their own relatively
air crash investigations, which should be well-developed investigator training mech-
second only to rescue efforts, makes it im- anisms for a continuous supply of investi-
perative for investigators to respond quickly gative talent, so the skills, knowledge, and
to preserve potentially perishable or fragile ability to cope with air accident investiga-
evidence (Nixon and Braithwaite, 2018). tors’ different environmental conditions
However, the horrific scenarios at the are all professional. However, accident
scene and the interviews with survivors and investigations can have varying degrees
witnesses are likely to lead to some degree of mental impact on investigators whose
of impact on an investigator’s emotional physical symptoms begin with easy fatigue.
response and mental health, such as the This is followed by a range of mental health
development of posttraumatic stress disor- problems: fear, anxiety, and depression (Foa,
der (PTSD). In mild cases, this can affect an Stein, and McFarlane, 2006).
investigator’s thinking, memory, and uncon- An accident investigator is a member of
scious recall of trauma-related scenarios, a professional task-oriented team, which
and in severe cases can lead to depression may be prone to overlook individual mental
and aggressive or suicidal behavior (World health problems while under continuous
Health Organization, 2004). high-pressure work patterns. These acci-
PTSD is a delayed onset and persistence dent investigation challenges not only affect
of a mental disorder caused by a person regular work progress to some extent, but
experiencing, witnessing, or encountering are also highly likely to cause psychologi-
one or more situations such as an actual cal distortions and pathological emotions,
death or serious injury involving themselves affecting accident investigator physical and
or others. There is plenty of research on mental health.
soldiers who have experienced PTSD but The most likely to affect the mental
limited research on what air accident inves- well-being of accident investigators is the
tigators have gone through. The challenge scene of the air crash. Air crash sites are of-
is the harsh environmental conditions and ten littered with human remains, blood, fuel,
psychological recovery after completing an etc., and can be filled with offensive smells
accident investigation. The purpose of this that prevent investigators from breathing
14 • October-December 2021 ISASI Forum