International Organisations: International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) and International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) have issued a press release on 18th March, 2018 requesting everyone to wait for the technical and detailed investigation report of the US-Bangla Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 crash in Nepal and not to make any premature conclusions that is unrealistic and incomplete.
The International Organisations representing Air Traffic Controllers and Air Line Pilots, stated the investigation of the accident needs to be conducted according to international Standards.
Such investigation should strictly follow the provisions laid out in Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which states that “the sole objective of the investigation of an accident or incident shall be the prevention of accidents and incidents” and that “it is not the purpose of this activity to apportion blame or liability”.
Accident investigators should have unrestricted access and control over the evidence to ensure that a detailed examination can take place. Whilst the investigation is ongoing, there should be no disclosure of the accident evidence such as recordings, in order to avoid misinterpretation of the events that occurred.
Premature conclusions, often based on incomplete, inaccurate or speculative information, and focusing on any one aspect of what happened, will only hamper the ability to learn from these tragic events. The organisations have urged the media, the public, and the concerned stakeholders to respect the long established procedures for analyzing these events and let the accident investigation run its course.
IFATCA and IFALPA will closely monitor the investigation to ensure that it is conducted in accordance with the principles described above, and that all efforts are made to prevent the recurrence of such an event.
