By Allison Lampert
MONTREAL, Nov 12 (Reuters) – National agencies around the world have not published enough air accident reports to generate recommendations that could improve safety for the flying public, advocates said on the sidelines of an industry conference on Thursday.
Final reports are published for only about half of all aviation accidents that are investigated under international rules, despite calls by airline trade groups to improve those results, said an executive with one such group, IATA.
“I’d have expected to see more efforts to improve the current state of affairs. I don’t think 50% is acceptable,” said Mark Searle, global director of safety at the International Air Transport Association, a trade association for the world’s commercial airlines.
“It just seems we’re floating around that 50% and there’s no real sort of forward trajectory,” he added on the sidelines of the International Aviation Safety Summit in Montreal.
It’s not clear when a final report will be published on the June 2025 crash of an Air India Boeing 787 jetliner shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India. A draft final report of the accident that killed 260 people was expected around October. Before a draft can be approved, the report should be circulated to relevant participating countries for comments.
Under international rules known to the industry as Annex 13, such investigations are launched to help experts gain knowledge and make recommendations that can help improve safety. Under standard international practice, final reports on air accidents are generally due in a year.
Reuters reported in October that Saudi Arabia had launched an air accident probe under international rules following the September 30 cockpit stabbing on an Israel-bound flydubai jet.
It is not clear whether Saudi Arabia will produce a preliminary report, which is typically published around 30 days after the incident.
The Saudi government and the country’s National Transport Safety Center did not answer requests for comment.
China also has yet to publish a final report into the crash of a China Eastern flight in 2022.
Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, which organized the conference, agreed that convincing all countries to produce timely reports has been a challenge.
Shahidi said in an interview that the reasons given for not filing reports are usually that the investigating body lacks enough workers with sufficient expertise. In some cases, the incidents are sensitive because they involve suspected intentional downings of planes.
Producing the reports is key because it helps prevent similar accidents from happening in the future, Searle said.
“When these reports aren’t coming out with solid recommendations the industry can’t learn.”
(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal. Additional reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in New Delhi and Federico Maccioni in Dubai; Editing by David Gregorio)
