Two Russian Planes Crash

Have you heard about the Russian plane crashes? It was something pretty amazing because when the first one crashed the other one crashed in less than five minutes. In one plane there were forty people and in the other one there were sixty people. Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the crash. Some Russians think that the planes crashed because terrorists put water in the fuel. Others say that it was an accident. I wish that I knew more about the crashes so I could tell more about it.

In some interesting cases like this one I really wish that I knew how the investigators try to figure out what really happens. I think being an investigator would be fun because they get to figure out cases. What kinds of things do you think investigators use to solve interesting cases?

Comments

[Ms. Meeler]

Paulina - my husband works on the Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team for the Georgia State Patrol. He is called out to reconstruct really bad car accidents that caused someone to die. He has to use a lot of math skills, pictures of the vehicles and bodies, marks on the road and cars, and lots of other stuff to figure what exactly caused the wreck. Maybe he can explain other stuff he uses to figure out these hard cases? Is this something you may be interested in doing when you grow up?

[Paulina]

It would be fun and interesting to do what your husband does.

[Trooper Meeler]

Paulina,
I am a trooper with the Georgia State Patrol's Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team. I investigate vehicular homicide cases throughout northeast Georgia. Utilizing technology is a major part of any investigation. First, we document all types of evidence. A few examples are skid marks, tire impressions, and the vehicle's final rest position. All evidence and people are photographed. We use forensic mapping to create scale diagrams of collision scenes. Using the evidence documented on the collision scene, we are able to place the vehicles in their pre-crash positions and show their paths of travel. Then, we create 3-D annimations that are very similar to watching a movie of the crash. Another example of technology is the airbag module located in newer vehicles. In a crash the airbag module records the vehicle's speed, change of velocity, whether the seatbelts were in use, whether the brakes were applied, and several other types of information for 5 seconds prior to the crash. This is similar to the "black box" located in airplanes. However, the black boxes record throughout every flight and record every aspect of the plane.
The weblog is a great way to learn writing skills. In my job, writing is very important. I am required to write a detailed investigative summary on every case that I investigate. My summaries are read by countless people and entered into official court records. Thus, it is very important to write correctly.