SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- It took a little more than six months for an accident investigation board to determine what caused the Space Shuttle Columbia to disintegrate Feb. 1, 2003, upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

The official report release Aug. 26, 2003, showed the board narrowed the immediate cause of the catastrophe down to a missing tile on the leading edge of the left wing. Another part of the consideration was some sort of mechanical failure of Columbia's propulsion system.

In a roundabout way, that's where a little-known course at Sheppard Air Force Base came into play following that fateful flight. David Knauer, 361st Training Squadron Jet Engine Mishap Investigation Course instructor, said then-Navy Cmdr. Mike Francis, a graduate of the course, served on the Columbia accident investigation board, applying the tools he learned as a student to a real-world accident.

"We, of course, like to think we gave him at least a little knowledge to help him through that time," Knauer said.

That's exactly what the course is designed to do: train military members and civilians from around the world how to investigate what caused a jet engine to fail. The class pulls in Air Force, Navy, Marine and Coast Guard students who have the same requirement. Students also come from 55 countries around the world including Australia, New Zealand, Poland and the Czech Republic, to name a few.

Knauer said most people would think that graduates of the course would fill in as jet engine investigators if called to be part of a board, as the course name suggests, but most of the former students fill the role of the maintenance member on investigation boards.

"The maintenance member has a very extensive and sometimes exhausting task to perform during the investigation," he said. "That person will analyze maintenance factors to include pre-mishap status of the aircraft, aircraft systems, maintenance qualifications, proficiency and training."

Ronald Loeffler, another course instructor, said students start out by learning how to be investigators. Photos and case studies from past mishaps are used to help the students understand the processes of a jet engine mishap investigator.

Then it's time for the first of two hands-on investigations with actual engines that suffered some sort of damage that led to their failure in flight.

"Once we go through the classroom portion looking at pictures, we come out to the lab area where we have engines representing what we just discussed," Loeffler said. "We then go use the actual item so they can do an investigation on their own."

In this portion of training, students can pick up parts, look inside the engine and examine fan blades and other aspects of the propulsion mechanism to figure out how the engine specifically failed.

"If you're involved in an accident investigation and the engine was the cause, this course is essential to help you figure out (what happened), especially if you're not an engine mechanic or an engineer," said Maj. Andrew Garcia, attending the course as an operations officer from the 48th Equipment Maintenance Squadron at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England. "It helps to give you a general idea of theory as to how the engine works as well as all the different things that can go wrong, what to look for and the simple tests that you can do out in the field even with just the minimal amount of equipment."