Expert: David A. NewMyer - 4/10/2004

Question
I am a high school senior and plan to go to college next year and major in Aerospace Engineering.  I am interested in a career with the NTSB, FAA, or other government area.  I would really like to be an investigator of aviation safety, either of crashes, or regulations.  Is it possible to do this with an A.E. degree and internship experience, or do I really need to be a pilot or mechanic?  Thank you.

Answer
Hi, Katlyn:

Nice to hear from you....I will try to assist.

If you go to the Federal Aviation Administration website at www.faa.gov you will be able to find job descriptions and annoucements for Aviation Safety Investigator positions.  I think that you will find that an engineering background is helpful for such postions but that you must also have some sort of aviation background and certification in order to be hired into such positions.  The agency wants to have as flexible and knowledgeable a person possible in these positions....with the FAA, their responsibililty is to investigate non-fatal general aviation accidents and whatever fatal general aviation accidents are delegated to them by the NTSB.  The NTSB investigates all large aircraft (transport category) accidents.  Having a background in either airline operations (for the NtSB) or in general aviation operations (for the FAA) is, therefore, critical to performing the job that they want done.

I hope that this helps.

Good luck,

David A. NewMyer