How are accidents handled in Marine Corp?

[anjinoo7]

I was curious; we in the Air Force have two separate investigations. One called a Safety investigation and a separate Accident investigation. The Safety investigation is published however the Accident investigation is not. I had a buddy fly his plane into the ground in 29 Palms a couple years ago and never found out why. Anyone have any advice?

 

[retired guy]

anjinoo7...It`s Marine Corps, not Corp Accidents are investigated by a board made up of squadron safety officers. they receive help from civilian engineers if requested. I`ve never seen a full, comprehensive published report on a aircraft accident, however I know that somewhere in the system they exist. The Navy proceedures are exactly the same.Marine aircraft and everytjhing associated with aircraft are Navy property, even if the word "Marines" is painted on the side of the aircraft. I ejected fron a brand new Crusader (52 hours flight time on this plane, 1 month out of the Chance Vought factory, BuNo. 150298 ) this was Navy property and also lost a .38 cal. pistol, Marine Corps property. The loss of the pistol caused me considerably more grief than the loss of the aircraft.

 

[Occam's Razor]

I was curious; we in the Air Force have two separate investigations. One called a Safety investigation and a separate Accident investigation. The Safety investigation is published however the Accident investigation is not. I had a buddy fly his plane into the ground in 29 Palms a couple years ago and never found out why. Anyone have any advice?

Within a few hours, all Naval Aviation mishaps are assigned an "Aviation Mishap Board" (AMB). The AMB is convened by the authority that "owns" the aircraft(s) involved. It could be a squadron, group, or wing. If the mishap "cross-decks" (ie: involves aircraft from two different units), the highest common "owner" makes the call.

The senior officer of the AMB must be senior to the most senior pilot/operating crewmember involved in the mishap.

At least one member of the AMB must be a school-trained ASO ("Aviation Safety Officer"). In the USMC it's a secondary MOS.

There are typically 5 members of each AMB, but the convening authority can assign more. They have access to any experts necessary to complete the report.

All AMB reports are submitted through the chain-of-command, with each reviewing authority adding endorsements. The two archives for every USMC mishap are DCS/Air (Deputy Chief of Staff - Air) a 3-star at HQMC...and BuWeps (The Navy Bureau of Weapons).

I have no clue how to get a copy or even a summary of a mishap report.

The other possible investigation that sometimes occurs with a mishap is a JAG Manual investigation. It is required if there is a non-aviation element that costs the government money. Any commanding officer (squadron, group, wing) can require a JAG investigation if there is an issue of "Line Of Duty".