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:
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CATEGORY | CIRCUMSTANCES |
1 | Accident and incidents are those where the facts indicate a
significant threat to safety of the
general/travelling public or are the subject of widespread public interest. The investigation will be conducted by a team involving specialist groups, and will include collection and analysis of all relevant facts, issue of safety recommendations, and production of an ICAO-style report, normally within about 12 months from the date of occurrence. |
2 | Accident and incidents are those where the facts indicate a
concern for the safety of the
general/travelling public. Category 2 investigation requirements and reports are similar to those for Category 1 investigations. The investigation will be conducted by a team involving specialist groups, and will include collection and analysis of all relevant facts, issue of safety recommendations, and production of an ICAO-style report, normally within about 12 months from the date of occurrence. |
3 | Accident and incidents are those where the facts indicate
actual or potential serious safety deficiencies. The category is used when there is some concern for public safety and a need for an in-depth investigation to determine the facts. The investigation may be conducted by a team involving specialist groups, and will include collection and analysis of all relevant facts, issue of safety recommendations, and production of an ICAO-style report, normally within about 06-12 months from the date of occurrence. |
4 | Accident and incidents are those where the facts do
not indicate a serious safety deficiency. The category is used for accident and incidents where the circumstances were sufficiently complex to require detailed information from the pilot, operator and/or other involved parties. The accident and incident reports may include Safety Recommendations where appropriate. The investigation may be conducted by one or two investigators, and will include collection and analysis of all relevant facts, issue of safety recommendations if applicable, and production of an ICAO-style report, normally within about 06 months from the date of occurrence. |
5 | Accident and incidents are incidents where some investigation actions are needed
to expand on and/or substantiate the initially reported facts. Investigations associated with this category specifically aim to identify if
safety enhancement action is appropriate for accident and incidents. Category 5 reports may contain Safety Recommendations where appropriate. The report will be available on request. The investigation may be a desk top investigation conducted by an investigator, and will include collection and analysis of all relevant facts, may have a safety recommendations, and production of an EDCAIRS-style report, normally within about 02 months from the date of occurrence. |
6 | Accident and incidents are occurrences, which are primarily of
statistical interest and are not investigated. The initially reported information is recorded on the database EDCAIRS. Further information may be available on request. |
The following are problem areas and contributing factors to most of our accidents :
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Human error this is a major killer and involves
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Procedure not followed (Standards Operating Procedure / Regulations / Manufacture Requirement, etc.)
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Flying Visual Meteorological Condition (IMC) into Instrument Metrological Condition resulting in disorientation. .
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Get there attitidue. This is the disregarding of safety standards in order to get to the destination.
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Bad Habits, Attitude, Airmanship
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Aircraft idiosyncrasies
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Lack of maintenance / poor maintenance
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Lack of or inadequate supervision
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Regulator visibility at airports, airstrips and aviation