Commercial aircraft accidents are very rare. That’s a good thing. It is the most powerful evidence that aviation is the safest form of transportation. And that is very good news for the five billion travelers who will fly this year.
But success has created a paradox. In the early days of flying, one of the biggest drivers of safety improvements was accident reports. In 2005, for example, there was one accident for every 268,703 flights. That gave us a lot to learn. By 2025, the accident rate had dropped to one in every 760,000 flights. There is still a lot to learn from each of these. And coupling that with our ability to crunch huge amounts of safety data gives each of these reports the potential to be even more powerful.
The paradox is that, because accidents are so rare, it seems that many states have somehow lost the capacity to investigate them and deliver final accident reports on time and on spec – that is to say, in line with the standards and recommended practices outlined in Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention. We see that clearly in the numbers. Between 2019 and 2023, only 63% of accident reports were completed in line with the commitments that states made in signing the Convention. That’s a problem that we are working hard to fix.
One piece of good news is a series of amendments to Annex 13 that will provide some practical solutions. Among these is greater clarity on the freedom of states to get the help they need in conducting investigations by delegating the investigation to another state or regional body, and inviting independent observers. The amendments also try to remove potential blockers by emphasizing the need for unrestricted access to evidence and the importance of transparency with respect to the public and, importantly, with the families of victims. The revision leaves no room for complexity or political sensitivities to become an excuse for not complying with Annex 13’s requirements.
Simple measures can also have an impact. We are hoping that will be the case with an infographic that IATA worked with ICAO and IFALPA to publish. It explains, step-by-step, how investigations must proceed to align with Annex 13. Of course, the experts in the field know this by heart. But that is not necessarily the case with many of the stakeholders who can have an impact on the successful completion of an investigation.
The infographic lays out clearly and simply how states and stakeholder need to collaborate, when information should be shared, and who is responsible for what in the accident process. Our hope is that by making this more easily understood, we’ll have a better completion rate.
A third encouraging development is the release of an IATA centralized repository of safety recommendations from accident reports. This is the first time that such insights have been brought together in a single database. The obvious result is that this will enable more effective analysis and use of accident reports.
The motivational element of this is that by making it as easy as possible to use the results of accident reports, their importance becomes even clearer. As individuals, we are all motivated when we see our hard work put to use. It is the same for the individuals – and institutions – involved in accident investigations. That’s an important secondary aim for the database that we hope will bear fruit in the years to come.
There is no one reason why 37% of accident reports are not completed in line with Annex 13 requirements. Equally, there is no one magic solution to solve the problem. These three actions will surely help on their own. And they should serve as an important reminder for all involved of the critical nature of what we are trying to achieve. We often say, “making aviation safer,” but that is a sanitized way of saying “saving lives.”
Producing reports on time, sharing their content and using that to make flying safer will save lives. And there is no greater motivation than that.
