The United Kingdom Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is part of the Department for Transport and is responsible for the investigation of civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the UK. The Chief Inspector of Air Accidents reports directly to the Secretary of State for Transport.
The fundamental purpose of investigating accidents is to determine the circumstances and causes of the accident with a view to the preservation of life and the avoidance of accidents in the future; it is not to apportion blame or liability. This short video has been produced to show what the organisation does.
The Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Keith Conradi was a pilot with both the Royal Air Force and a UK airline before joining the AAIB in 2002. In the video he emphasises, as is fairly traditional in AAIB publications, that AAIB is independent of the regulators, such as the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Additionally it is emphasised that AAIB is independent from the Police. This emphasis is topical as in recent months there has been a court decision in England that AAIB reports can be admissible in evidence in court cases and an application in Scotland by the Crown Office for access to the Cockpit Voice Recorder from a recent helicopter accident. Details of the associated UK regulations can be found here.
As well as participating on overseas investigations (for example when a British designed or registered aircraft is involved) the AAIB is also responsible for accident investigation in the UK’s overseas territories and the Crown Dependencies.
The AAIB is administratively part of the Department for Transport (DfT), based alongside Farnborough Aerodrome in Hampshire. Their site is now shared with both the UK Military Air Accident Investigation Branch (MilAAIB) and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).
