Aviation student wins scholarship
massey-university
Thu May 28 2009 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Aviation student wins scholarship
Thursday, 28 May 2009, 10:46 am
Press Release: Massey University
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Aviation student wins scholarship
An aviation student’s essay on the challenges facing air safety investigators has secured him a top scholarship.
Murtaza Telya, who is studying a Bachelor of Aviation Management at the School of Aviation, is the first student from New Zealand to be awarded the prestigious International Society of Air Safety Investigators Rudolf Kapustin Memorial Scholarship.
Mr Telya’s winning words addressed the effects on accident investigations of cultural factors, detrimental media coverage and judicial and legal duress.
As part of his scholarship, he received membership of the society (named in honour of a long-serving American air crash investigator who died in 2002) and will be flying to Florida in September for its next seminar. He has been invited to complete air safety courses at the Southern California Safety Institute and Cranfield University, in England.
Mr Telya explained that culture impacts on the methods of accident investigation because Eastern cultures use a holistic approach to investigate accidents – trying to understand how causal factors interact with each other – while Western cultures use a more individualistic approach, looking at patterns of explanation.
He also outlined how media attention can be a problem for investigators, by revealing details of a crash before the official report is complete. He describes how legal pressures to criminalise aviation accidents can discourage people from providing information that could incriminate them.
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The General Manager of the School of Aviation, Ashok Poduval, says Mr Telya's win earned kudos for the school and for New Zealand. "His paper is very well written and captures issues that are relevant and contemporary," Mr Poduval says. "He will now have the opportunity to rub shoulders with reputed air safety professionals from around the world at the seminar.”
The scholarship is awarded to full-time students enrolled in an International Society of Air Safety Investigators-recognised education programme.
ENDS
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