ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by describing the microburst-induced commercial aviation accident at the Charlotte/Douglas Airport in 1994. It provides background material on the modeling environment that was used to emulate the accident with particular emphasis on the human performance models for the accident aircraft's captain and first officer. If the models are to be useful, they must produce human-like expertise while also exhibiting human-like limitations. Errors made by the skilled aircrews of commercial aircraft are not infrequent. The chapter examines the weather situation that the crew encountered on their approach to the Charlotte/Douglas Airport and the captain's plan for addressing the threat posed by the weather cell at the threshold of the runway. It explains the accident scenario as the captain communicated a plan for addressing the threat presented by the weather cell—a plan that was subsequently put into action and then revised, but was unsuccessful in avoiding the accident.
