08.07.06
Delta 191 (Connors v. The United States)
In the late 1980s, Z-Axis produced this computer animated reconstruction of the crash of Delta flight 191 for the United States Department of Justice in the case of Connors v. The United States. The DOJ attorneys and their expert witnesses used these animations to defend the FAA and National Weather Service from accusations that these agencies were at fault in the crash. The defense was successful. The judge cited the animation in his decision that the fault for the crash lay entirely with the cockpit crew.
As is our usual practice in this podcast series, the video we’ve built for you consists of excerpts from the original animations, with our own new explanatory voiceover. We do this because the animations used in trial are often quite long — sometimes hours — and usually have no audio track to tell you what’s going on. When they’re presented in court, of course, these animations are accompanied by the live testimony of an expert witness. We also think that you might find some explanation useful in understanding the animations and their significance both to the trial and to the history of animation in court.
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Delta 191 (Connors v. The United States) [2:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6907)
Kevin said,
December 29, 2006 at 8:12 am
This is NOT the animation used in court — it is a commercial for the person who created it. Please re-label this posting to more accurately reflect what it is. Wikipedia should also alter its referral to this link.
rudy.ramsey said,
December 31, 2006 at 10:45 pm
The folks best suited to reply to Kevin’s comment are on holiday just now, but they’ll respond in a few days.
Kevin said,
January 2, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Thanks, Rudy. Just so I’m clear, your intro tag above refers to “this animation” and “these animations” but the video here is not those. Where is “this computer animated reconstruction of the crash of Delta flight 191 for the United States Department of Justice in the case of Connors v. The United States”? That’s all I’m saying.
Gary Freed said,
January 11, 2007 at 11:46 am
Kevin, I apologize for taking so long to respond to your comment but the holidays, blizzards in Denver, and some pressing projects kept me away. Thanks to Rudy for stepping in. Anyway, I understand your concern and am in the process of updating the podcast descriptions so that someone linking to just one podcast will have a better understanding of what to expect.
On the other hand, there is a reason why we did not include the entire package of raw animations used in court. These pieces total about an hour in length and with the exception of a few with audio from the cockpit voice recorder are entirely without sound. These animations were designed to illustrate the testimony of the expert witnesses while they gave oral descriptions live in the courtroom. Watching them without this testimony is like watching paint dry. They are really not stand-alone pieces. That is why the podcast series has shown only excerpts of the animations along with our narration regarding a little of the history of the case and the background of the production process.
In addition, a number of these animations were my personal work. I was the animator on Delta, forensic investigator and animator on Pepcon, and the senior producer on the WTC case. And as a point of historical significance, the Delta animation was the first use of a computer animated reconstruction in a major case in the US. So in one regard presenting these works is a commercial for me and for Z-Axis. The intent, however, was to share with the world what we think is a unique and significant application of computer animation that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Doug said,
February 19, 2007 at 3:27 am
The creation of the Delta 191 animations was commissioned by the US government and the project was paid for by taxpayer dollars. When will Z-Axis release these animations in there entirety and why have they not already done so?
Gary Freed said,
February 27, 2007 at 5:22 pm
As mentioned in our introduction to the podcasts, most of the courtroom animations are without audio or narration making them of limited use in their raw form. Until the advent of this podcast series there was almost no demand to see all the Delta animations. Only the scenes with the cockpit voice recordings have received some interest. And, we have made no particular effort to advertise their availability. However, the entire group of animations is available from our corporate offices. We only charge a nominal fee sufficient to cover the required labor, supplies and shipping.