Priorities for investigating
The AIID's primary purpose is on enhancing safety through investigation of aviation accidents and incidents with the aim to prevention recurrence, and it is not in our mandate to establish blame or liability.
In addition, the AIID has observed that many occurrences involve repetition of past occurrences where the contributing factors are similar and the safety issues are well known. In these circumstances, the likely safety benefits and lessons may not always justify allocating significant resources. In those cases, the AIID may undertake a limited fact-gathering investigation or not to investigate, if so, Most of these occurrences are captured in our data base and used for trends monitoring and data analysis. Equally, there is often as much or more to be learned from incidents and hazards as there is from accidents and where appropriate, the AIID will give priority to these sorts of investigation.
The office of SM: AIID decides in consultation with the IIC and the information available at the time whether to investigate or not. Therefore it's important to make sure that all reporters give as much details as possible when reporting an occurrence. The following broad hierarchies for aviation (as indicated on the chart below), which reflect the priorities described above, must be taken into account when deciding whether to investigate and when determining the level of investigation response.
To be able to define the size and scope of an investigation the different types of accident and incidents could be categorised in the following manner:
| Category | Circumstance |
| 1 | A report of an occurrence that suggests that a safety issue may exist should be investigated immediately. Investigation may lead to the identification of the safety issue, including its significance, and provide the justification for safety action and/ or safety recommendations. |
| 2 | A report of an occurrence that may not warrant a full investigation but which would benefit from additional fact gathering for future safety analysis to identify safety issues or safety trends. |
| 3 | Basic details of an occurrence, based primarily on the details provided in the initial occurrence notification, can be recorded in the database to be used in future safety analysis to identify safety issues or safety trends. Note: In the third approach, the occurrence is not investigated immediately, but may be the subject of a future investigation. |
Timelines for the release of reports:
| Internal Report | Within 24 hours or a day following a public holiday or weekend. |
| Accident Notification to other states and ICAO | As soon as practically possible, within five working days after AIID has been notified. |
| Preliminary report | Within 30 days |
| Interim Statement | At 12 months anniversary of the occurrence unless the final report has been published. |
| Final Report | Published within 12 months of the occurrence |
The following are problem areas and contributing factors to most of our accidents and incidents :
- Human error this is a major killer and involves
- Procedure not followed (Standards Operating Procedure / Regulations / Manufacture Requirement, etc.)
- Flying Visual Meteorological Condition (IMC) into Instrument Metrological Condition resulting in disorientation. .
- Get there attitidue. This is the disregarding of safety standards in order to get to the destination.
- Bad Habits, Attitude, Airmanship
- Aircraft idiosyncrasies
- Lack of maintenance / poor maintenance
- Lack of or inadequate supervision
- Regulator visibility at airports, airstrips and aviation