Following the guidelines for best evidence rule, it was agreed that the best possible method for photographing many of the key Swissair Flight 111 crash exhibits was Object Modeling of the artifact.

In the clamp at the top of the tripod in the photo can be seen a small wire. This was one of the short-circuited beaded wires that became a key exhibit and was ultimately examined by the Auger Electron Spectroscopy method. However, it first had to be fully photographed to show all the facets of its surface.

To do this it was fastened in the tripod-mounted clamp on a turntable. The Nikon 35 mm camera was positioned with a bellows attachment and a reversed 28 mm lens to provide as much as 9x enlargement on the film plane. A ring light was positioned to illuminate the bead and a fill flash was focused on the white background. One photo was taken for each ten degrees of rotation of the turntable that resulted in 36 photos of the bead in sequence to show its complete circumference.

The second photograph shows a macro photo of another of the molten beads of copper wire found in the wreckage. When photographing at this small a scale, depth of field is important, which requires a very small aperture, which in turn requires a tremendous amount of light output from the flash. A ring light was found to be the best light source at this size, with a second slave flash utilized to illuminate the background.

The 35 mm film was then digitized after developing with the resulting images being stitched together with computer software to provide a rotating image of the bead, all 36 faces. This allowed one to view the exhibit’s complete surface in sequence.

The potential of this technique is invaluable for court purposes as exhibits of this size cannot be handled and examined by the judge or jury with any degree of confidence, nor can they be viewed in any detail due to their small size. Key exhibits such as this that are only 1 cm long can easily be dropped and damaged. However, the finished object model images of the exhibit can easily be displayed on a monitor, or disclosed to interested parties electronically.

A similar method was used to photograph larger exhibits including ductwork, aircraft seats, and kitchen galleys, to name a few. But a large 9-meter square table that precisely displayed many hundreds of overhead cabin and cockpit exhibits presented a unique problem. This time however the camera was moved ten degrees per photo along the circumference of a circle drawn around the center of the table, and several series of 36 photos each were taken at various elevations. All of the photos were then stitched together to create a virtual image from anywhere around the debris, including high overhead.

Lighting for such an endeavour was a major hurdle in such a 'make-shift' environment as a 1950's aircraft hangar. Originally, normal portable flash units were utilized, but it quickly became evident that the cost in batteries and recycle times would soon cover the cost of studio flash units. Because of the nature of the exhibits, it was necessary to utilize as many as six or more studio and normal flash units to provide the lighting for the photos being taken. A separate studio (photo above) with a white backdrop was established in a large hangar room to allow lighting and background control that could not be available elsewhere in the hangar. The result was several thousands of photos that were digitized and stitched together with software to provide invaluable visual evidence for the investigation.

LARGE SIZED PHOTOGRAPHIC MONOPOD ON WHEELS

As part of the reconstruction procedure, parts of the above ceiling debris were placed on a mock-up table in their exact X - Y - Z positions. This served the purpose of putting each piece in their exact position in relation to each other piece, and thereby allowing one to view the overall amount of burn damage to obtain a proper burn pattern.

Typical of any fire investigation, one attempts to reconstruct the fire scene with as much of the debris as possible. In this case, it took nearly two years to reconstruct, with debris gathered from the seafloor covered by nearly two hundred feet of water of the Atlantic Ocean.

Again, lighting was the major hurdle, and several attempts were made using various normal methods. However, depth of field was again a major hurdle, which required abundant lighting to overcome it. In addition, each light source used creates its own set of shadows, so fill flash had to be utilized to overcome that problem.

By using a boom type vehicle, low level, moderate angle, very high angle, and look down photographs could be taken of the overhead mock-up table, which measured about 30 feet square. By using four large studio type electronic flash units mounted to the boom, a ring type effect was created with the camera in the center. By then having four more electronic flash units directly overhead the table pointing downwards, fill flash was provided that was consistent in each of the photos taken. For each level, one was taken for every ten degrees around the table. All flash units were on slave mode, and were triggered by the flash unit fixed to the 35 mm camera.

The results were impressive, with the photos being 'stitched' into one object model photograph allowing one to view any area of the mock-up table debris, including allowing the viewer to zoom in for close-ups of any particular exhibit. Again, all pieces were exhibited, and only identifiable pieces were placed on the mock-up table. This procedure is invaluable for any follow-on investigators, and for subsequent court presentations.

OBJECT MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY OF A WIRE BEAD

TEMPORARY HANGAR STUDIO

LARGE SIZED PHOTOGRAPHIC MONOPOD ON WHEELS