01-02-19          0700    Morning routine.

            The following three items were prepared and printed off in sufficient numbers to be presented to the meeting tomorrow between Supt. FRASER, Insp. LATHEM, S/Sgt. GORMAN & FRASER, and Cpl. PURCHASE, and myself. 

First:     An email received from Dr. BROWN regarding the value of the AES and Anderson Theory in residential, commercial and automobile fire investigations.

             The usefulness of the AES technique extends to all varieties of materials-forensic investigations including arson cases as well as to other crime scenes but the equipment is costly and not yet a routine analytical tool.  The Anderson protocol is very controversial but given our arc melt findings (Boeing tests were quite accurate) I am starting to become cautiously optimistic that with care and good references it is a valid technique.  Wiring arc bead histories for terrestrial (residential/commercial/auto) fires will usually be much less complex than the Swissair case.

            I examined several arc beads/melts from wires removed from an in-service airliner during regular servicing. Insulation from 5 wires in a bundle had been chaffed and subsequently arced to an Al frame strut severely pitting it and heating the nearby Al-mylar fiberglass insulation (blackened but no fire and no smoke reported in flight records).  Arc beads were Cu-rich "clean" as expected for this "arc 1st" event; also interesting that magnesium was absent/rarely present.    

 best wishes,  Jim

And then:

            A paragraph from an email received from Dr. BROWN.  The email was in reply to a request for his opinion on the use of AES and the Anderson Theory in residential, commercial, and automobile fires.  It was added to the bottom of the email as a postscript.

             As you had earlier suggested, some external and internal pressure applied to have me remove and/or alter commentary in my draft interim report (especially on sources for the Mg anomaly seen in many arc melt exhibits).

And then the following:

            Proposed rough draft of an email to send to Dr. BROWN after having received his comments regarding pressure applied to him to edit and limit the content of his final report.

 Dr. BROWN

            Your message of 01-02-13 is acknowledged regarding the Swissair Flight 111 AES report. 

            It would seem that the Transportation Safety Board, being a non-criminal investigative agency, simply want the data that reflects the safety aspect of their investigation into the crash.  Their activities to date as a result of this accident investigation have provided a large number of commendable safety actions regarding procedures and materials currently found in most commercial aircraft.

            While I am in no way attempting to influence your conduct in this matter, I can say that it would be acceptable for any concerned citizen of this country to contact the appropriate criminal investigative authority should they possess knowledge or information that might reflect on the potential criminal aspect of such an investigation as this.  This action would of course be at the discretion of the individual and would be based on his or her own belief that such information is of value to that investigation.  In this particular case, it would be the RCMP in Halifax, N.S.

            I might add that to date, there have been no grounds to undertake such a criminal investigation by the RCMP regarding this accident.  However, this does not preclude the necessity to open such an investigation in the future should critical information be provided by reliable sources.

            Your continued assistance in this matter is most appreciated.

Tom JUBY

            Going through this process of providing these three pages will enable me to pass the information on up the line so that Insp. LATHEM can make the decision.  

            …..

            After lunch, John GARSTANG phoned.  They are writing up the request for my extension into March, and he had a list of items that we will be doing.  He agreed to send me an email listing them all this afternoon so I can have it for tomorrow’s meeting.

From: "Garstang, John" <John.Garstang@tsb.gc.ca>

To: 'Juby Tom' <tom.juby@ns.sympatico.ca>

Subject: On-Going TSB Work      Date:  Mon, 19 Feb 2001 12:22:38 -0500

 Tom,

            I thought I would send you a quick "heads-up".  I have requested that Vic Gerden send a letter to Inspector Lathem about our requirements for on-going work.  I do not know what will transpire but, as discussed, I have asked that your work period be extended until the end of March; due in part to so many people being sick, losing manpower in the Hangar (e.g. Barry and reduced work hours from others due to other work commitments), etc. 

            Work still to be done includes doing the Swissair aircraft inspection summaries.  When we were together last, Larry Fogg was not able to bring his reference material with him.  The three of us still have to get together (possibly in Ottawa) so that we could produce an integrated written summary of our observations.  This would include interpreting our notes and photographs to document what insulation was observed where, on what aircraft, and the finding of the chaffed G1 galley wire, etc.  We need to complete a tabulation of data (e.g. markings) on the insulation blankets from the wreckage, and from those you collected on my behalf in Zurich.  We have the laboratory sample collection, processing and correlation work to do with follow-up, as required.  We made a good dent in this work and found some interesting findings (e.g. molten metal on the duct) but as you know there is more to do.  We still would like to continue utilizing you as the coordination contact for E&R parts work in the hangar.

           I hope my request is approved and will be favorably received.  I believe official correspondence is forthcoming.  I really appreciate all your hard work and on-going assistance.  It has been invaluable to me.

Regards    John

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