Investigation objective (Annex 13 §3.1)
When an accident or serious incident is investigated, the stated purpose of that investigation shapes everything: how it is conducted, who cooperates, and what may be done with its findings. Both ICAO and EU law give a safety investigation a single objective — prevention — and expressly rule out apportioning blame or liability. This "no-blame" principle, and the protection of investigation records that flows from it, are frequent exam topics and matter to you personally: they are the reason you can speak openly to investigators after an occurrence.
The sole objective: prevention, not blame
ICAO Annex 13 §3.1 establishes:
"The sole objective of the investigation of an accident or incident shall be the prevention of future accidents and incidents. It is not the purpose of this activity to apportion blame or liability."
The logic is practical: pilots, controllers and mechanics will only describe honestly what happened if their statements cannot be turned against them. A safety investigation therefore has these consequences:
- It is strictly separated from criminal and civil proceedings, which pursue blame and liability through their own, independent evidence-gathering.
- Evidence, statements and reports gathered by the safety investigation must in principle not be used for other purposes — apportioning blame, claims for damages, or disciplinary action.
- Its product is a set of safety recommendations addressed to authorities, manufacturers, operators and others, aimed at preventing recurrence.
Protected records (Annex 13 §5.12)
To keep the flow of honest information open, Annex 13 §5.12 requires States not to disclose certain records gathered during an investigation:
- statements taken from persons involved, made in the course of the investigation,
- correspondence between persons involved in the operation of the aircraft,
- medical or private information about persons involved in the occurrence,
- Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) recordings and transcripts thereof,
- recordings from air traffic control units,
- opinions expressed in the analysis of information.
These records may appear in the final report only where they are directly relevant to the analysis of the occurrence.
EU law: Regulation (EU) 996/2010
The EU carries the ICAO principles into directly applicable law:
| Provision | Content |
|---|---|
| Art. 1 | Adopts the no-blame principle: the sole objective of a safety investigation is the prevention of future accidents and incidents, without apportioning blame or liability |
| Art. 4 | Every Member State must maintain an independent, permanent civil aviation safety investigation authority, able to conduct its investigations free of outside interference |
| Art. 14 | Protects sensitive safety information (statements, CVR data, medical and private information, analytical opinions) from use in other proceedings — prosecution, disciplinary action, damages. Disclosure is permissible only where a competent judicial authority decides that the interest in disclosure outweighs the interest in continued confidentiality |
Germany
The Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung (BFU) in Braunschweig is the independent authority required by Art. 4 of Regulation (EU) 996/2010. It was established by the Flugunfall-Untersuchungs-Gesetz (FlUUG). §1 FlUUG adopts the no-blame principle; §17 FlUUG protects the confidentiality of investigation records in civil and criminal proceedings, analogous to Art. 14 of the EU regulation.
Exam essentials
- The sole objective of a safety investigation is the prevention of future accidents and incidents (ICAO Annex 13 §3.1; Reg (EU) 996/2010 Art. 1).
- Apportioning blame or liability is expressly not a purpose of a safety investigation.
- Safety investigations are strictly separated from criminal, civil and disciplinary proceedings.
- Protected records under Annex 13 §5.12 include witness statements, CVR recordings and transcripts, ATC recordings, medical/private information and analytical opinions.
- Reg (EU) 996/2010 Art. 4 requires every Member State to maintain an independent, permanent safety investigation authority — in Germany, the BFU in Braunschweig.
- Sensitive safety information may be disclosed to other proceedings only if a competent judicial authority finds that disclosure outweighs confidentiality (Art. 14).