Courses Taught

Aircraft Accident Investigation (AAI)

Personal Website

www.metasi.com

Andy McMinn, M.S., P.E.

Biography

Mr. McMinn is a Consulting Engineer, having started MetASI, LLC (Metallurgical Air Safety Investigations) upon retiring from the U.S. Department of Defense. Mr. McMinn specializes in Metallurgical Consulting, Forensic Metallurgy, Failure Analysis, Aircraft Accident Investigation, Turbine Engine Accident Investigation, Aircraft/Turbine Engine Fire Investigation, and Accident Investigation Training. Clients include civil, military, private organizations, aviation law firms, and educational institutions, both domestic and international.

Mr. McMinn was a Senior Air Safety Investigator/Instructor in the Department of Transportation's Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) Aviation Safety Division located at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; retiring on January 2, 2015, with 31 years and nine months of Federal Service. The Aviation Safety Division conducts Aviation Safety and Aircraft Accident Investigation training for all of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspectors and other Government, Military, Industry, and Foreign Investigators.

Mr. McMinn was with TSI as an Associate Staff Member from May 94 to July 99 and as a Staff Member from July 99 to January 2015. His primary work at TSI included course design, instruction, and management. Course design included the Basic AAI, Advanced AAI, Experimental AAI, Turbine Engine AI, Human Factors in AAI, and various International AAI courses. Instruction included technical lectures in structures and properties of materials, physical metallurgy, failure analysis of aircraft and turbine engine components, crash site diagramming/analysis, crash site photography (digital), aircraft reconstruction/analysis, turbine engine investigations, composite investigations, aircraft system investigations, in-flight breakup investigations, mid-air collision investigations, and in-flight/post-impact fire investigations. Course management included the Basic AAI, Advanced AAI, Experimental AAI, Turbine Engine AI, and International AAI courses.

Other work at TSI included assisting the FAA Flight Standards District Office and NTSB Regional Offices in performing General Aviation Aircraft Accident Investigations.

Before becoming a Staff Member at TSI, Mr. McMinn was with the United States Air Force as a Senior Materials Engineer from March 83 to July 99 in the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center's (OCALC) Materials Engineering Laboratory located at Tinker AFB, OK. Tinker AFB is one of three Air Force Depots responsible for the repair and overhaul of aircraft and turbine engines. The Materials Engineering Laboratory conducts aircraft and turbine engine failure analysis and accident investigations. His work at Tinker AFB consisted of forensic metallurgy, failure analysis, and aircraft accident investigations on USAF weapon systems; both aircraft and turbine engines. These investigations included site documentation with sketches and photography, crash dynamics and aircraft reconstruction, in-flight/post-impact fire analysis, failure analysis of metallic and composite components, turbine engine failure analysis and investigations, laboratory testing, and technical report writing. Crash Investigations included the majority of modern-day Air Force aircraft: A-7, A-10, ALCM, B-1B, B-52, C-5, C-141, E-3, F-4, F- 14, F-15, F-16, F-105, F-111, KC-10, KC-135, T-33, T-37, T-38, U-2 and their corresponding engines being managed and overhauled at OCALC.