Title: Legal and technical implications of the safety recommendations issued in the final

reports of the civil air accidents and incidents investigations

Authors: Cuerno, C. (corresponding author), Guerrero, M.J., Arnaldo, R. and Gallego, J.M. Topic Area: Safety and Security Affiliation: Spanish Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents Investigation Commission (CIAIAC) . Address: c/ Fruela 6, 1. 28011 Madrid, SPAIN. Telephone, Fax and e-mail: 34 91 597 89 60/ 34 91 46355 35/ cristina.cuerno@upm.es Abstract:
The necessity of issuing technical reports including the findings obtained during the technical investigation of civil air accidents and incidents is stated in the article n 26 of the Convention of International Civil Aviation (CICA), in which is textually cited: In the event of an accident to an aircraft of a contracting State occurring in the territory of another contracting State, and involving death or serious injury, or indicating serious technical defect in the aircraft or air navigation facilities, the State in which the accident occurs will institute an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident, in accordance, so far as its laws permit, with the procedure which may be recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization. The State in which the aircraft is registered shall be given the opportunity to appoint observers to be present at the inquiry and the State holding the inquiry shall communicate the report and findings in the matter to that State [1]. Following the previous statement and the contents of the article n 37 of the same Convention, the ICAO approved the Annex 13 entitled Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation in 1951, which last edition was published in 2010 [2]. The Annex 13 includes the procedure that must be followed for conducting the technical investigation of the civil aircraft accidents and incidents, and also it refers to the safety recommendations concept. In Chapter 6 Final Report is where the safety recommendations appear as a part of this report. Nevertheless, the concept is defined in Chapter 1 Definitions, as A proposal of an accident investigation authority based on information derived from an investigation, made with the intention of preventing accidents or incidents and which in no case has the purpose of creating a presumption of blame or liability for an accident or incident. In addition to safety recommendations arising from accident and incident investigations, safety recommendations may result from diverse sources, including safety studies [2]. The proposed work will try to present a deep analysis of the twofold effects of safety recommendations showing the great importance of issuing adequate instructions which take properly into account the juridical implications derived, as well as the technical instructions that may affect to the design/airworthiness, maintenance and use (operations) of the affected aircraft. The Final Reports conclusions lead, accordingly, to the draft of safety recommendations. The terminology was coined at fourth edition, on 12th of August, 1976 of Annex 13. Also it appears in the European Directive EC/94/56 [3], already repealed by the Regulation (EU) n 996/2010 [4], as well as in the national regulation of the majority of the countries. From the juridical point of view the analysis of the legal texts has interest mainly to discern who can be addressees of them and what obligations are imposed on the addressees for his follow-up (actions taken or under considerations). This analysis will be included in the proposed work as one of the main parts of the study. Among all the safety recommendations issued in all the final reports published in the world, the ones addressed to the ICAO have a special interest because they have legal and technical implications or effects. The International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, plays a key and complex role in the investigation and prevention of civil aviation accidents. On the one hand, the investigation of civil aviation accidents is regulated internationally in the first instance by ICAO, through the existing Convention on International Civil Aviation signed in Chicago in 1944 and its Annex 13 [1]. Accordingly, ICAO has produced manuals and guidance material to advice states on the conduct of aviation accident investigations: for example, ICAO documents 6920 [5] and 9756 [6], Circular 298 [7], and many others [8]. On the other side ICAO is responsible of creating and modernizing SARPs (Standards and Recommended Practices). SARPs make possible the development of the modern Civil Air transport System as they constitute

universally accepted standards that cover all technical and operational aspects of international civil aviation, such as safety, personnel licensing, operation of aircraft, aerodromes, air traffic services, accident investigation and the environment. Therefore, is because of this mayor responsibility that investigation reports may contain safety recommendations where ICAO documents or activities may be involved. To cope with this double responsibility ICAO has incorporated a specific section dedicated to accidents investigating and prevention, known as AIC (Accident Investigation and prevention section) within the organizational structure of ANB (Air Navigation Bureau). Additionally ICAO also organize periodical High Level Safety Conferences, whose goals are bring together the Directors General of Civil Aviation, or equivalent senior executives and stakeholders, to build consensus, obtain commitments and formulate recommendations deemed necessary for the effective and efficient progress of key safety activities by ICAO. This paper also revises some of the most significant safety recommendations addressed to IACO during the last years, detailing how the IACO organization has dealt with them and the safety improvements that have resulted from this process. From the point of view of the pure technical implications of safety recommendations, three aspects will be covered in the proposed contribution: design, maintenance and operations. From the point of view of the design, there is a great amount of safety recommendations which are related with changes into the physical design of an aircraft or part, or what is more general, changes affecting the airworthiness aspects. These airworthiness aspects deal with the type certification process, the type design, and type certification basis. The last aforementioned aspect will be specially covered showing different relevant changes in the airworthiness requirements due to a safety recommendation issued during or after the investigation of an accident. Also there are safety recommendations that have a cross-effect over the areas of maintenance and operations. These areas share several common characteristics that make them to need a special effort from the community in order to ensure that the recommendation is implemented in order to prevent future accidents. These characteristics are: the activity of operations & maintenance is a daily operation (never stops); the implementation of a recommendation in these areas is not immediate and it is no easily measurable. In many cases the Final Report issued by the accident investigation authorities may contain some safety recommendations in the areas of operations and/or maintenance. Those alerts are received with enthusiasm and led to news alerts, service bulletins and sometimes advisory circulars due to legal and practical reasons. Besides they help to normalize the situation after an air accident, because it provokes alarm and a natural shock, and obviously the daily operation, dont cover all eventualities. However once the investigation has finished, it is possible that some recommendations have not been already implemented and therefore their effects can be diluted unless they lead to real measures (SB/ADs/NPRM etc...). Due to these reasons, a greater traceability is required for all safety recommendations but specially in these areas. References
1 International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO. Convention on International Civil Aviation, Doc. 7300/9. Ninth Edition, 2006. 2 International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO. International Standards and Recommended Practices. Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation. Tenth Edition, 2010. 3 European Union. Council Directive 94/56/EC of 21November 1994 establishing the fundamental principles governing the investigation of civil aviation accidents and incidents. Official Journal L 319, 12/12/94 P. 0014-0019. 4 European Union. Regulation (EU) N 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation and repealing Directive 94/56/EC. Official Journal L 295, 12/11/2010 P. 0035-0050. 5 International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO. Manual of Aircraft Accident Investigations, Doc. 6920. 1970. 6 International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO. Manual of Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, Doc. 9756. 2000. 7 International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO. Training Guidelines for Aircraft Accident Investigators, Circ. 298. 2003. 8 Frostell, C. Current and Future Activities in Accident Investigation and Prevention in ICAO, Advances in Aviation Safety Conference & Exposition, SAE International, Warrendale, PA, April 1998, Paper 981226. DOI:10.4271/981226.