Aviation accidents and incidents generate technical questions that require practical understanding of aircraft design, certification, maintenance, and operations gained through direct experience. ESi’s aviation consultants can translate that understanding into defensible findings, addressing the technical dimensions of an aviation matter to provide critical insights into what occurred before, during, and after an event.
Consultants in our aviation practice have decades of combined experience across fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and the full range of incident types with legal and regulatory consequence.
Their credentials span aerospace and mechanical engineering, materials science, maintenance, and human factors, with many individuals having contributed directly to the development of aviation industry standards through standards bodies, government agencies, and academic institutions.
ESi aviation consultants are regularly called upon to provide aircraft expert witness before state and federal courts. Every engagement is structured with that evidentiary standard in mind, whether or not litigation is the immediate objective. This ensures findings produced for an insurance investigation or internal review can support litigation if circumstances require.
Meet Our Aviation TeamAviation Applications
Aviation investigations draw on multiple engineering disciplines, and the technical questions they present are rarely resolved by a single analytical method. The applications below represent the most common contexts in which ESi's consultants are retained.
Accident Reconstruction
ESi uses flight path reconstruction tools, visualization technology, and engineering analysis of aircraft performance to establish the most probable accident sequence in a form suitable for litigation and regulatory proceedings.
Mechanical Failure Analysis
Our consultants use in-house laboratories for metallurgical examination, fractographic analysis, and component testing to identify failure modes and trace their origin through design, manufacturing, maintenance, and service.
Human Factors & Piloting Analysis
ESi's aviation consultants and human factors specialists evaluate pilot performance in abnormal or emergency situations to determine whether appropriate measures were taken during the incident.
Aviation Product Liability
When aircraft components fail in service and lead to product liability claims, ESi’s expert consultants evaluate design adequacy, manufacturing quality, and certification compliance to assess whether the product failure was related to an incident.
Maintenance Standard of Care
ESi’s experts are retained to investigate the role and quality of maintenance in an aviation accident—as well as the maintenance programs of repair stations, FBOs, charter services, and airlines—using applicable regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
Ready to discuss your case? Submit a confidential inquiry and our expert consultants will be in touch.
Aviation Investigation and Reconstruction Experts
Contact our Aviation Team
Timothy P. Jung, Director, Senior Managing Consultant
ESi Aviation Capabilities
- Mid-Air Collision Analysis
- Airplane and Helicopter Performance Analysis
- Wreckage Site Inspection and Analysis
- Flight Path Reconstruction
- Accident Reconstruction
- Visualization and Virtual Reality
- Safety and Maintenance Procedure Evaluations
- Flight Testing
- Material Analysis
- Fluid Dynamic Analysis
- Cell Phone Downloads
- Occupant Kinematic Evaluations
- Biomechanics
- Component and Instrumentation Inspections and Testing
- Airplane Stability and Control Analysis
- Piloting Action and Expectation Analysis
- Ice Build-Up Analysis
- CVR and Sound Spectrum Analysis
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
- Maintenance Standard of Care
Why Clients Choose ESi
Aviation litigation and investigations require expert witnesses and technical consultants whose credentials, experience, and analytical methods can withstand scrutiny. ESi is retained when matter complexity is high, opposing technical arguments are well-resourced, and expert witness quality affects the outcome.
Consultant Contributions to Aircraft Industry Standards
ESi aviation consultants have contributed to the development of industry standards, making them recognized experts in creating the standards against which aviation conduct is measured.
Multi-Disciplinary Teams
Custom teams are combined across multiple disciplines for the matter at hand, combining aerospace and mechanical engineering, materials science, biomechanics, human factors, and fire investigation to address the full technical picture.
Advanced Reconstruction & Visualization
Flight path reconstruction, virtual reality visualization, cockpit voice recorder and sound spectrum analysis, and cell phone data recovery allow complex accident sequences to be reconstructed and presented visually in formats that are accessible to lay audiences.
Direct Operational Experience
ESi’s consultants bring applied experience in aircraft design, manufacturing, testing, certification, piloting, and maintenance. This allows them to evaluate and explain pilot actions, maintenance decisions, and design choices from an operational perspective.
Track Record in Federal & State Proceedings
Our consultants have provided aircraft expert witness in state and federal courts across a wide range of aviation matters, with reports prepared to evidentiary standards and opinions maintained under vigorous cross-examination.
International Exposure & National Reach
The ESi team is prepared to respond to incidents, conduct site inspections, and support litigation wherever a matter arises, whether it requires a national or international presence.
