During the era of the Aviation Safety Council (ASC), the Flight Recorders Laboratory was established in 1999, renamed as Investigation Laboratory in May 2001, and subsequently transformed as the Research and Engineering Division following the reorganization of the TTSB in August 2019. The main responsibilities of the Research and Engineering Division include precise measurement at transportation accident scenes, wreckage investigation, evidence identification and analysis, read out and analysis of transportation accident recorder data, information integration and animation simulation production, engineering analysis and simulation of transportation accidents, as well as research and development of various investigative engineering technologies.
To confirm the sequence of events in transportation accidents, we reconstruct the accident process through engineering techniques, including personnel decision-making and actions, equipment failures, vehicle dynamics and status, and changes in the surrounding environment. This assists the investigation team in determining possible causes and potential risks of the accident. Additionally, the Research and Engineering Division accepts commissions from domestic and international related agencies to interpret and analyze vehicle recorder data.

1. Flight Recorders
Flight recorders refer broadly to various onboard recording devices installed on aircraft. Among them, the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) have crash-protected features. Their primary purposes are to record aircraft system status, conversations between flight crew and air traffic control personnel, etc. These records assist in analyzing the sequence of flight accidents, the degradation of aircraft performance, system status and failure processes, as well as human operations and errors.
Moreover, GPS receivers are widely used in both military and civil aircraft, ultralight vehicles, ground vehicles, and vessels in Taiwan. After major transportation accidents, GPS receivers often sustain damage due to severe impact or fire. The ability of reading out damaged GPS chips is a critical technique. The Research and Engineering Division possesses the capability to read out flight recorders and damaged GPS receivers from various types of aircraft.

2. Ship Voyage Data Recorders and Railway Vehicle Data Read Out
Ship voyage data recorders, similar to aircraft flight recorders, record ship operation and running parameters as well as voice communications in the bridge. They have crash-protection features and are used to investigate causes and related risks of major waterway accidents.
Railway vehicle data varies by train type and may include Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system records, Train Control and Monitoring System (TCMS) data, and internal/external cockpit video recordings. These data generally lack crash-protection features, so the likelihood of data survival after severe accidents is low, or special recovery techniques are required.
The Research and Engineering Division is actively building up capabilities to read out maritime and railway vehicle recorder data, with plans to complete equipment procurement and personnel training within two years.

3. Precise Measurement at Accident Scenes
After a transportation accident, the primary task is ground surveying and aerial reconnaissance of the accident site. The Research and Engineering Division mainly uses GPS for site measurement to meet timeliness and accuracy requirements. Depending on the environment and precision needed, GPS equipment with sub-meter or centimeter-level accuracy is selected. Additionally, laser rangefinders and other measuring instruments may be used as needed. In recent years, to quickly integrate accident scene information, lightweight drones have been introduced for aerial photography, integrated with ground measurements.
For large and complex accident scenes, we are planning to deploy wide-area drone aerial imaging systems, medium- and short-range LiDAR, handheld laser scanners, and post-processing platforms for mapping data, aiming to complete accident scene investigations efficiently and rapidly.

4. Vehicle Performance Analysis
Taking aircraft performance as an example, calculating flight trajectories requires processing flight data and ground observation data. Flight data includes flight recorders, quick access recorders, and onboard GPS; ground observation data may include air traffic control radar, airport surface radar, Doppler weather radar, wind profilers, anemometers, rain gauges, visibility and wind shear warnings, and station surveillance video.
Since flight recorders record limited flight parameters, to obtain more accident-related flight parameters, aircraft performance analysis is conducted using aircraft motion equations and performance equations. This facilitates analysis of accident causes. Over the years, we have developed related research in performance analysis, including wind field estimation, wind shear identification factors, ballistic trajectory analysis, runway surface friction coefficient estimation, aircraft braking deceleration performance analysis, lift and drag coefficient estimation, aircraft icing performance studies, turbulence intensity analysis, aircraft belly strike analysis, runway excursion and overrun performance analysis, and airborne proximity analysis.

5. Accident Animation Production
Using flight accidents as an example, accident animation simulations primarily rely on data recorded by flight data recorders, including aircraft operation and mechanical status such as position, attitude, control surfaces, control stick position, engine status, and cockpit voice recorder data capturing cockpit environment. Environmental factors affecting flight operations, such as visibility, snowfall, and rainfall, are sometimes integrated into the animation.
All data (flight recorders, radar tracks, site measurements, and Geographic Information System (GIS) layers) must first be synchronized in time and space. Only after synchronization can the relative relationships among the pilot, aircraft, and environment be accurately displayed, enabling precise animation simulations that reconstruct the flight accident process.

6. Underwater Locator System for Flight Recorders
To improve the timeliness of flight recorder search and recovery, the TTSB began developing the Flight Recorder Underwater Locator System (FRULS) in 2005. This system integrates GPS, underwater hydrophones, GIS, and positioning and orientation estimation algorithms to estimate the underwater location of flight recorders.
Currently, we have developed the third-generation portable FRULS (FRULS III), which enhances hardware operational flexibility and is suitable for various accident environments such as oceans, lakes, and reservoirs. It is equipped with smart portable devices, sound signal processing, and underwater search software tools, significantly improving calculation accuracy and ease of operation.

7. Read Out and Analysis of Damaged Avionics Equipment
Most small civil and public aircraft are not equipped with flight recorders, and ultralight vehicles also lack recorders. In accidents involving such aircraft, avionics equipment with data storage functions (GPS receivers, electronic flight instruments, onboard cameras, etc.) become critical evidence. However, these devices do not meet crash survivability standards and are easily damaged in accidents.
The TTSB collaborates with domestic and international experts and companies, including Garmin Taiwan, the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), and the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) of Russia, to build capabilities for reading out and analyzing avionics equipment.
Currently, the Research and Engineering Division have hot air rework stations, programmable dry hot air ovens, high-magnification optical microscopes, and tools for reading NOR and NAND memory chips in DIP, TSOP, and BGA packages. Future plans include establishing infrared rework systems, ball-free chip reading modules, and new reading tools to meet the memory reading and analysis needs of new avionics equipment.

8. Engineering Failure Identification and Analysis
The engineering failure identification and analysis process includes background data collection, inspection and testing, and engineering simulation analysis.
Background data collection involves gathering basic information about the accident vehicle, relevant maintenance records, inspecting the accident vehicle, and collecting similar failure cases and related technical reports.
Inspection and testing include disassembling accident vehicle parts, macroscopic and microscopic observations, chemical composition analysis, metallographic analysis, hardness testing, and scanning electron microscope examination of fracture surfaces.
Engineering simulation analysis includes finite element analysis, multibody dynamics analysis, and structural collision analysis.
By integrating all observations and analysis results, failure and fracture modes are determined, accident causes identified, and specific, effective improvement and prevention measures proposed to avoid recurrence of similar failures.