CRIMINALISATION HINDERS SAFETY PROGRESS SAY ERA/FSF

20/11/2006

The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) joined with the Flight Safety Foundation, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and the Academie Nationale de L’Air et de L’Espace (ANAE) in France and signed the joint Resolution urging governments and national authorities to clamp down on criminal prosecution in the wake of air disasters, claiming that it is detrimental to safety progress.

The ERA Board adopted a ‘no-penalty’ reporting system in the early 1990s. ERA has, for a long time, strongly advocated the Europe-wide implementation of this reporting culture. The voluntary disclosure of information by anyone involved in any safety-related incident benefits everyone by helping to prevent future recurrences.

“The sole purpose of an air incident or accident investigation should be to determine the cause of and contributing factors in the accident so that lessons can be learnt for the future,” said ERA director general, Mike Ambrose. “Criminal proceedings hinder this process by prolonging the investigation and discouraging witnesses and other persons involved in the accident from disclosing valuable information. People are unlikely to cooperate if they live in fear of criminal prosecution.”

The Resolution cites nine air accidents that led to criminal prosecution, including the 1992 Air Inter crash in Strasbourg, France where six aviation officials were prosecuted and have only been acquitted in the last few days, 14 years after the accident.

“Having an organisation like ERA come on board and support this Resolution with their signature is a great accomplishment,” noted FSF CEO and President Bill Voss. “When highly respected aviation groups sign a resolution like this, regulators and lawmakers take notice and we can hope that it leads to the protection of the investigation and ultimately a safer aviation industry.”

The Resolution urges States to exercise far greater restraint and to adopt stricter guidelines before officials initiate criminal investigations or bring criminal prosecutions in the wake of aviation disasters, stating that: “increasing safety in the aviation industry is a greater benefit to society than seeking criminal punishment for those ‘guilty’ of human error or tragic mistakes”.

The full Resolution is available at: www.flightsafety.org and www.eraa.org/issues/erapositionpapers.php

ENDS