The
Investigation Department
The AIB is mandated under the Saudi Civil Aviation Law, Chapter 8,
Article 107, as the sole independent investigation bureau to undertake
investigations into accidents and incidents involving civil aircrafts within
the territory of the Kingdom, Saudi aircrafts or aircrafts operated by Saudi
nationals over the high seas or territories not owned by any country. In
addition, all investigations are conducted in accordance with ICAO Annex 13 and
AIB regulations. The AIB investigative process looks at three factors—human,
machine, and environment—to determine the probable cause(s) of accidents and
incidents. This process leverages the skills, talents, and professionalism of
the investigation team. The investigation department shares almost 250 years of
aviation experience between them from multiple domains and fields of expertise,
whom are trained in the use of the latest investigative techniques and tools to
find facts, analyze those facts, and determine why and how an accident
happened.
Investigation
Process
Investigators
consider what may have caused or contributed to the circumstances of an occurrence.
They look for issues in areas such as technical failures, design, operation,
air traffic management, weather, human and organizational factors.
Evidence is
gathered through cooperation with pilots, witnesses, law enforcement officials,
the regulatory authority, airport officials, industry, and other stakeholders. Investigations
try to answer the question of why and how, but focus on the question of what
caused the accident, or made it worse. Based on all available evidence, a good investigation
tries to identify the factors that are relative, necessary, and in some cases
even sufficient to determine the cause that most likely resulted in the
accident. It generally takes around a year to produce a final report, which
includes a probable cause(s) and/or contributing factors.
Investigation
Reports
The purpose of the investigation report is to communicate the
circumstances of the incident/accident and their preventative measures to
enhance aviation safety. Depending on the occurrence. In conformance with
ICAO Annex 13 Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS), the AIB produces the
following types of reports:
·
Full Scope Final
Report
A report in the format defined by ICAO Annex 13
and in accordance with the report standards found in ICAO Guidance Material Documents
(Doc 9756).
·
Preliminary
Reports/ADREP
An initial report based on the available
occurrence information serves the purpose of ICAO annex 13 requirement and will
be sent within 30 days from the date of the occurrence to all interested parties.
·
Interim
Statement/Report
In case of an investigation, where the report finalization
exceeds 12 months, an anniversary statement is released in accordance with
Standard 6.6 of ICAO Annex 13. Such a report details the progress of the
investigation and any safety issues raised.
Additionally, the AIB produces
the following reports:
·
Short
Report/Limited Scope Report
A short/limited scope report is a focused report
usually used for office-based investigations (incidents/serious incidents) where
the underlying factors are well known and does not require any further
investigation.
·
Safety
Concern Report
A report particularly
related to safety issues that need to be addressed immediately.
Final reports will be sent to
interested parties in accordance to ICAO annex 13 chapter 6 as identified by
the AIB and to agencies that are deemed beneficiary.
Safety
Recommendations
The AIB, will issue safety
recommendations related to safety issues identified during investigation and
address the appropriate authorities, including those in other States, any preventive
action that it considers necessary to be taken promptly to enhance aviation
safety.
Unless otherwise indicated,
recommendations in the reports are addressed to the regulatory authorities of
the State having responsibility for the matters with which the recommendations
are concerned. It is for those
authorities to decide what action is to be taken.
The sole
objective of our investigation is the prevention of incidents and accidents.