Joshua Albert

Joshua Albert, son of Lieutenant Commander Albert, was a Starfleet cadet assigned to the highly-regarded Nova Squadron at Starfleet Academy.

Young Albert was killed in 2368 during a flight training accident in orbit over Titan. While flying in close formation with four other Nova cadets - team leader Nicholas Locarno, Wesley Crusher, Sito Jaxa and Jean Hajar - Cadet Albert's ship collided with Cadet Hajar's, causing all ships to be destroyed. Albert was the only one unable to activate his emergency transporter in time.

Wesley Crusher and Joshua Albert were close friends. They both once went on a skiing trip in Calgary, where Albert borrowed Crusher's sweater. Crusher had also helped Albert in his studies, especially in Astrophysics and Statistical Mechanics.

An inquiry into the accident presided by Admiral Brand and Captain Satelk pointed to pilot error on Albert's part, much to the dismay of his father.

In reality, Cadet Locarno had convinced the remaining cadets to provide false testimony and falsified flight plans during the inquiry. The crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) discovered this and correctly surmised that the five cadets were attempting to pull off a prohibited maneuver known as the Kolvoord Starburst at the time of the collision.

On the final day of the inquiry, after a confrontation with Captain Jean-Luc Picard about the prohibited maneuver, Cadet Crusher came forward and admitted that the true cause of the accident was that he and the other cadets pressured Albert in helping them attempt the Kolvoord maneuver - partly vindicating Cadet Albert and giving his father some closure.

For the duration of the investigation, which lasted several days, the Starfleet Academy flag was lowered to half-staff. 

Joshua Albert