100 Years of Aircraft Accident Investigation Mr G B Cockburn
Aircraft accident investigation in the United Kingdom has been
an evolutionary process which began in the early twentieth
century. Surviving information on the earliest period is sketchy
and in some cases contradictory. In 1910, C S Rolls, co-founder
of the Rolls-Royce Company, had the misfortune to become the
first British citizen to be fatally injured in an aircraft
accident, when his modified Wright biplane suffered a structural
failure during an aviation meeting at Bournemouth. Later in the
same year, a British pilot and his aircraft disappeared during
an attempted double crossing of the Channel. Although no
official flight safety structure then existed, the Royal Aero
Club, which had only recently obtained its Royal Charter, became
closely interested in the topic. The Club was dedicated to
spreading knowledge to advance the sport of aviation.
Establishing the reasons for accidents was soon seen as an
essential part of generating such knowledge.