Saudi Arabia Investigation of Aircraft Accidents

The Convention on Global Aviation defines flight calamity as an occurrence related to the operation of an airplane that took place between the time an individual gets on a plane with the aim of flying and until they disembark. The convention also states that a calamity occurs when such a person is seriously hurt and the plane is destroyed, failing, missing, or totally unreachable. When the plane is wrecked or severely damaged to the point where it cannot be restored, it is defined as a structure loss calamity. In general, a flight misfortune can be defined as an incidence, other than an accident, related to the operation of a plane, which is connected with a threat to the safety of the process. When such a mishap occurs, some people are always tasked with examining the plane to determine the roots of the accident. The following essay analyzes how Saudi Arabia investigates aircraft accidents.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had a majorly bad experience with accident inquiries in 1996, when a Saudi Arabian aircraft was involved in the most terrible aerial crash in the history of aviation (Alsrisari, 2013, p. 2). It was through such a calamity that the state instituted an autonomous body to deal with investigations and in-flight security. In Saudi Arabia, there exists a body that is tasked with almost complete examinations related to air carriage accidents. An inquiry represents a procedure for the purpose of calamity prevention, which includes collecting and scrutinizing information, drawing decisions, composing the determination of causative factors, and, when suitable, constructing safety commendations. The Aviation Investigation Bureau (AIB) represents an autonomous administrative body reporting straight to his Highness the chair of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) panel (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Aviation Investigation Bureau, 2013). The supervisory and managerial directions of the AIB are spearheaded by the Office of the Director General. The office further provides general governance for the management of the organization involving production, policy, and support roles.

The AIB is the inquiry authority established under the monitoring control of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of GACA. It is accountable for examinations of all flight occurrences accuring among civil listed planes within the sovereign zone and national waters of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Aviation Investigation Bureau, 2013). Concerning any inquiry under the agency's regulation, the bureau has unlimited access to all proof without interruptions and is not obstructed by managerial or judicial examinations or events. Any statements issued under this law or any evidence gathered by the agency during an inquiry are specifically excluded as evidence and may not be utilized or denoted to in any associated legal proceedings.

In Saudi Arabia, the AIB develops documented strategies and processes, detailing the inquiry duties that include organization, preparation, examination, reporting, and deterrence. Upon acknowledgment of a notification of a flight occurrence, the AIB, on behalf of the Chairman of the GACA Board of Directors, commands an instant inquiry. Also, the agency may delegate, in text, to any division or organization the collection of actual information connected to a flight occurrence. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, all incident flight examinations managed by the AIB have precedence over any information collection by any other division or agency. Normally, for all flight accidents research directed by the Bureau, a representative from the Safety Department (SD) of the GACA can be allocated by the SD to collect relevant evidence intended at the deterrence of prospective aviation incidents (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Aviation Investigation Bureau, 2013).

According to the agency, under no conditions are occurrence of flight inquiries, in which a part of the examination is passed on to another division or organization, to be regarded as mutual investigations in the logic of sharing accountability. Those inquiries strictly remain the responsibility of the AIB . In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, when divisions, organizations, or other parties partake in surveys of the AIB, all the stakeholders are obliged to make sure the evidence developed about the flight accidents is shared with all the partakers in a timely way. However, when sectors and agencies join in examinations of the office, they might not contribute to the verdict of the Bureau regarding the roots of aviation accidents.

In the case of differing interests between the agency and other parties through inquiry, the requests and interests of the AIB always take priority. The AIB is autonomous fiscally, managerially, and operationally from the Regulator and the sector. In ordinary circumstances, the AIB liaises with the Regulator and the sector on issues concerning flight safety. The probing panel further liaises with global organizations and other country's inquiry establishments under the agreements and documents of understandings to which the Dominion of Saudi Arabia is a party in the interest of improving flight safety.

Saudi Arabia's AIB neither dispenses culpability, nor offers the means to define accountability for in-flight occurrences or accidents. The objective of the agency is to enhance flight safety of local aviation events within the kingdom. This aim is realized by directing independent examinations into flight incidences, checking the enactment of safety commendations, and recognizing and amending systemic faults through a regular fact-based calamity deterrence program, covering all elements of the local flight settings.

In fulfilling its role of increasing flight safety, the AIB ensures it undertakes appropriate examinations, and allocates its wealth in a way that brings the utmost advantage to flight safety developments. The agency also makes security commendations centered on logical processes, guarantees safety recommendations are followed up, and utilizes skill and facts from its in-house capabilities. In facilitating investigations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Bureau offers its workforces an apt apparatus required for examinations and the essential preparation in the matters crucial for the proper performance of their responsibilities. All inquiries of aviation accidents are managed in a way consistent with global safety principles like the Standards and Recommended Practices enclosed in ICAO (Alsrisari, 2013).

During the inquiry, the Bureau surveys the entire or any portion of any record, sound track, duplicate, transcript, or considerable summary of any communications that transpire between air transportation regulators, plane crew members, airport vehicle workers, and individuals who convey messages regarding air traffic control or associated matters. The move enables the bureau to regulate the real cause of plane accidents and take the pertinent recommendations. The AIB examines flight recorders which are usually installed on a plane. These devices can supplement the inquiry into an aviation occurrence.

During a flight investigation event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an investigator in charge (IIC) assumes control. This person is chosen by the Director of Investigations of the AIB on the basis of credentials with the responsibility for the organization, conduct, control, and overall management of an aviation accident investigation. The IIC has the duty and the authority to supervise and direct all resources and activities of all persons involved in an on-site examination and throughout all the stages of the investigation including contemplation and implementation of the final report. However, any member of the agency receiving a report or becoming aware of a flight occurrence can act as a detective until an IIC is selected. The AIB guarantees that there is compulsory reporting of all flight incidents and events across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In several examinations, observers are incorporated. The monitors usually represent individuals who have joined AIB for training or other valid resolves other than involvement.

Regarding the issue of partaking in a plane accident in Saudi Arabia, persons who regularly attend as contributors to an inquiry of a flight occurrence managed by the AIB are qualified agents or consultants to a qualified representative. This rule is consistent with the global pact involving aeronautics, which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a member of. Also, persons joining the inquiry have a direct interest in the issue of the examination and contribute to the realization of the bureau's goal.

If, during an agency's investigation, circumstances soundly indicate that the flight occurrence might have been instigated by a premeditated illegal act, the bureau surrenders the inspective priority to the appropriate authorities.  The relinquishment of probing priority by the agency does not affect the power of the office to carry out its examination.  The agency and the establishments examining the criminal act ensure that the pertinent information is shared in a timely way.

In the case a flight occurrence in an external territory has a Saudi Arabian listed plane involved, the AIB coordinates with the country that has authority over the inquiry and designates a qualified representative or specialist with suitable consultants to partake in the investigation (Koshy, 2015). In other circumstance related to investigations of aircraft occurrences in Saudi Arabia, the AIB may reveal documents and data only when allowed to do so by the state handling the probe. Reaching out and coordinating with regional counterparts has been very helpful for the AIB in the past.

Countries like the United Arab Emirates have taken steps and reached out to join other investigative establishments in the region together in an approach that has aided the inspection specialists in the area to recognize each other's abilities better (Koshy, 2015).

In Saudi Arabia, there is a directive that imposes consequences on persons who may fail to conform to an investigation concerning a flight accident. According to this directive, anyone who resists or deliberately hinders a representative of the AIB in the implementation of their powers and responsibilities contravenes the law. Under this directive, those who knowledgeably provide false or confusing evidence at an inquiry or who intentionally fail to conform to the requirements of the regulation are liable and can be penalized with accordance to the law (Aviation Investigation Bureau Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013). The same consequences apply to individuals that knowingly damage, destroy, remove without authority, conceal, or withhold any archives or assets connected to civilian planes involved in a flight accident.

Usually during public and military aviation accidents, the responsibility for the conduct of an inquiry involving both civil and armed planes rests wholly with the Bureau. Nonetheless, the Army component contributes to the investigation and is presented with all pertinent data and facts. In cases when a military flight accident involves a civil air transportation control, airlines amenities, or civil airfields, the agency is integrated as a full partaker in the military analysis.

In cases of a military plane accident examination in which a mutual interest exists, the Bureau at times requests to participate as an observer. The agency agent in such inquiries is always aware that their part is that of a witness, not a partaker. The agency's observer cannot divulge any information derived from the investigation without procuring prior authorization from the superior service member of the Military Investigation Board (Aviation Investigation Bureau Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013). In requesting such clearance, the bureau's observer identifies clearly the information they desire to transmit and the anticipated recipients. They also ascertain what security ordering should be placed on the data sent. It's worthwhile to note that an observer has considerable authority regarding inquiry into any plane occurrence.

After handing out distinct qualifications, the witness is permitted open and uninterrupted access to machinery and individuals involved without obstruction by administrative orders, and has the power to enter any aircraft, place or property, the entry of which the detective considers necessary for the investigation on reasonable grounds. Additionally, the viewer can inspect any plane, place, or things, including any gear, stock, consignment, luggage, and archives. Moreover, brochures, merchandise, or other assets or any part thereof the investigation of which the analyst considers essential for the examination on sound grounds are subject to creation of copies or extraction from any such documents or records.

The detective is also authorized to apprehend, detain, exclude, conserve, guard, and test to destruction if needed. Any aircraft, machinery, capital, cargo, luggage, records, records, freight, or other goods that the investigator considers involved in or relates to on reasonable grounds in any flight occurrence can be probed under the Saudi Arabia flight directive (Aviation Investigation Bureau Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013). During the investigation, the observer is mandated to protect the site of any aviation occurrence that is being investigated and, for that purpose, to prohibit or limit access to assets at the location for a reasonable period.

Usually, at the guidance of the AIB, the right administration agency available at the site of a flight incident takes all sound measures to safeguard evidence and to maintain safe keeping of the plane and its contents for such a time as may be necessary for an inquiry.  Safety of evidence means the preservation by graphic or other means of any proof which might be detached, affected, misplaced, or damaged. Safe custody involves protection against more damage, access by unsanctioned persons, thieving, and deterioration.  The security of evidence does not inhibit anyone from taking crucial measures to guarantee the safety of any individual, property, or surroundings.

The agency is responsible for taking and upholding custody of the occurrence flight site for inquiry purposes when civil listed airplanes are involved, irrespective of the nation that the plane actually belongs to in or over the free area or state waters of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Taking charge of an occurrence flight location is not the only duty of the local authority. It is also responsible for the region and activities involved, from accomplishing their tasks to offering external site security (Aviation Investigation Bureau Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013). The local administration usually liaises with the AIB IIC for particular safety requirements until the on-site examination is finalized and the nature of the plane has been concluded. All papers and records concerning the weather for the 24 hours prior to the flight accident and observations taken afterward are preserved and delivered to the AIB IIC or their representative for proper analysis.

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After every inquiry is finished and a determination is made, a safety recommendation is drafted.  Usually, the agency can refer to an external flight occurrence statistics in making safety recommendations. The document denotes a plan by an examination authority based on facts derived from an inquiry made with the aim of averting aviation accidents that in no instance have the purpose of making an assumption of blame or accountability for a flight occurrence (Aviation Investigation Bureau Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013).  In addition to security commendations arising from incident flight examinations, safety references may make references to various other sources, including care training.

In conclusion, aircraft incidents in Saudi Arabia have been seen to facilitate the establishment of the AIB, which manages all inquiries concerning aircraft accidents in Saudi soil and internationally on cooperation. The Bureau creates the step by step engagement procedures in the event of commencing an investigation. The surveys conducted by the Bureau are independent and do not tamper with the evidence. The Bureau sets out procedures for incorporating outside personnel in investigations regarding flights accidents where contravening the regulations is punishable by law. Other operational areas of the agency entail circumstances where military aircrafts are involved with civilian flights where the bureau conducts parallel investigations.  The department also offers recommendations aimed at accomplishing its core mission to enhance safety in aviation. Additionally, the AIB Bureau of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an international role. This factor arises when aircraft accidents associated with the Kingdom occur in other states. In upholding the effectiveness of the Kingdom's reliability in flight occurrences, the bureau has measures instituted to secure crash sites immediately after incidents. This protects evidence from contamination and facilitates the safety of the elements concerned. Aircraft accidents Investigation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, therefore, rests with the Aviation Investigation Bureau.