World airline body IATA has called once again for accident reports to be delivered in a timely fashion.
Willie Walsh the Glasnevin born CEO of IATA said: “of the 214 accidents in the last five years, only 96 final accident reports are available. This is an inexcusable violation of the Chicago Convention and a disservice to the safety of our passengers and crew. Governments and their agencies must improve.”
IATA’s latest figures indicate accident reporting compliance globally is not improving, which hampers the aviation industry’s ability to learn from accidents and improve safety standards.
Out of those accidents reported between 2018 and 2023, only 47pc resulted in a final report, with only 39 of those delivered within 12 months, according to IATA.
Factors contributing to this problem include lack of resources, skilled staffing shortages, and fear of criminalisation by airlines and pilots.
While safety standards have improved, accident reporting has worsened over the years, presenting a challenge for the industry.
ICAO’s Annex 13 requires preliminary reports within 30 days and final reports within 12 months, but only 39 out of 113 final reports were delivered within the specified timeframe. Nearly half of the countries in the world do not have independent accident investigators. IATA says establishing regional investigation agencies could raise standards considerably.
Possible solutions involve enhancing training standards, ensuring sufficient resources, establishing regional investigation agencies, and emphasising the importance of high-quality, detailed reports.
Walsh said: This year marks 20 years of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). In September 2003, Qatar Airways was the first to join the IOSA registry. Today, over 400 airlines are on the registry. It is the global standard for managing operational safety.”
“ IOSA is not the only global standard improving safety. We prevent future accidents by learning from accident reports. It is clear that IOSA helps to improve safety. In 2022, IOSA registered carriers outperformed those not on the registry by a factor of four. It is never “job done” on safety. So, we are marking two decades of success by making IOSA even more effective with a transition to a risk-based approach.”
