CRIMINALISING AIR ACCIDENTS BLOCKS SAFETY PROGRESS

The prosecution of persons or companies ‘guilty’ of human error or tragic mistakes has no place in air accident investigation, says ERA President

09 April 2008, Malta – The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) is calling for European states to adopt a non-punitive voluntary reporting system for air safety occurrences, rather than encouraging a culture of blame and criminal prosecution which discourages the sharing of safety information.

Antonis Simigdalas, ERA President and COO of Greek carrier Aegean Airlines, says: “The open and transparent reporting of safety incidents is crucial for accident prevention and the further enhancement of air safety. However, all aviation personnel, including pilots, cabin crew, maintenance staff, air traffic controllers, flight safety officers, even administrative staff, must be willing to disclose and share such information and be confident that they do so without penalty or fear of prosecution.”

Addressing delegates this week at the ERA Regional Airline Conference in Malta, Simigdalas’ words hold particular relevance as the UK Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into effect on 6 April. The new law allows for the prosecution of a corporate body - as opposed to an individual - for any death(s) caused by failures within senior management and applies to any company or corporate body that operates in the UK.

“Prosecution is justified when it can be shown that wilful disregard for established procedures, deliberate misuse of equipment, abuse of substances or anything similar has recklessly endangered the safe operation of a flight. However, where the cause of an incident or accident is due to human fallibility and all involved have used their best endeavours to ensure the safe operation of a flight, the use of reported data for criminalisation purposes acts directly against the larger public interest and the future safety of European flight operations,” Simigdalas continued.

Human factors remain a crucial element in most serious air incidents or accidents. ERA has strongly advocated the Europe-wide implementation of a ‘no-penalty’ reporting system since the late 1990s. The justification and purpose for such a system is clear and is in the interests of the overwhelming majority of EU citizens and air travellers. It enables:

• management action (eg training, amendment of procedures, revision of maintenance schedules) to correct problems that would otherwise be unknown, including the detection of trends

• sharing of this safety information across the industry so that lessons can be learned by other operators.

ENDS

Notes for Editors
Flying is still the safest form of transport. The probability of being killed in an air accident is so slight that you must fly every day for 43,000 years to get an even chance of this happening1. Notwithstanding air transport’s excellent safety record, everything possible must be done to encourage the ongoing enhancement of air safety for the continued prevention of air accidents.

Throughout the history of aviation, accident rates have been driven down using the ‘diagnostic’ approach: an accident is investigated, lessons are learned and corrections made. Today, the fatal accident rate is so low that a fatality risk management system is required. This type of preventative approach is heavily reliant on the sharing of information, enabling the collection of data that can then be analysed to predict trends and precursors to possible future accidents.

Further information on the issues of Occurrence Reporting, Accident Investigation and ‘Just Culture’ can be found at: www.eraa.org/issues/Air_Safety/Index.php.
Founded in 1980, ERA is the recognised representative body for intra-European air transport. It currently represents 60 airlines and over 140 Associate and Affiliate members, including airframe and engine manufacturers, airports, suppliers and service providers from all over Europe.

For further information, please contact: Lesley Shepherd, Manager, Corporate Communications
Tel: +44 (0)1276 485578 | Fax: +44 (0)1276 857038 | Mobile: +44 (0)7713 984793
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References
1 Nicholas Sabatini, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, FAA, "Downward Pressure on the Accident Rate", May 12, 2006 www.faa.gov/news/speeches/news_story.cfm?newsId=7170&print=go