S.I. No. 460/2009 - Air Navigation (Notification and Investigation of Accidents, Serious Incidents and Incidents) Regulations 2009

1. The court shall have, for the purpose of the public inquiry, all the powers of a court of summary jurisdiction, and without prejudice to those powers, may—

(

a

) enter and inspect, or authorise any person to enter and inspect, any place or building the entry or inspection of which appears to it to be required for the purposes of the inquiry,

(

b

) by summons, require the attendance as witnesses of all such persons as it thinks fit to call and examine, and require such persons to answer any question or furnish any information or produce any books, papers, articles and documents which it may consider relevant,

(

c

) administer an oath to any such person, or require any witness to make and sign a declaration of the truth of the statements made by him or her in his or her examination.

2. The technical assessors shall have the like powers of entry and inspection as are conferred by these Regulations on the court.

3. Where the Minister directs a public inquiry to be held, the Minister shall remit the case to the Attorney General and thereafter the preparation and presentation of the case shall be conducted by the Chief State Solicitor under the direction of the Attorney General.

4. The Chief Inspector shall give such assistance as the court and the Attorney General may require, and shall, for that purpose but subject to the direction of the court, have all the powers conferred by Regulation 7 on an inspector.

5. The Minister may appoint an inspector to assist the court and the Attorney General in the conduct of an inquiry and any inspector so appointed shall, for that purpose subject to the directions of the court, have all the powers conferred by Regulation 7 on an inspector in relation to an investigation.

6. Where a public inquiry has been ordered, the Attorney General may cause a notice (in this Schedule referred to as a “notice of inquiry”) to be served on the owner, operator, hirer and pilot in command of the aircraft concerned and on any other person who, in the Attorney General’s opinion, ought to be served with such notice.

7. (

a

) The Attorney General and all persons on whom a notice of inquiry has been served shall be deemed to be parties to the proceedings.

(

b

) Any other person, including the Minister, may seek the leave of the court to become a party to the proceedings, and on the granting of such leave, become a party to the proceedings.

8. (

a

) At any time before the date appointed for holding a public inquiry, the court may hold a preliminary meeting at which any directions may be given or any preliminary or interlocutory order as to the procedure may be made.

(

b

) Any person intending to make an application to the court at a preliminary meeting shall give notice of the application to the Chief State Solicitor.

9. A public inquiry shall be conducted in such a manner that, if a charge in relation to the occurrence is laid or is likely to be laid against any person, that person shall have the opportunity of making a defence. Where a charge could have been laid against a person who is dead, that person’s executor, administrator or other representative shall have that opportunity.

10. The proceedings of the public inquiry shall commence with the submission on behalf of the Attorney General of the questions which, on the information then in the Attorney General’s possession, he or she intends to raise on the conclusion of evidence, and shall be followed by the production of the evidence and examination of the witnesses produced by the Attorney General. These witnesses, after being examined on behalf of the Attorney General, may be cross-examined by the parties in such order as the court may direct, and may then be re-examined on behalf of the Attorney General.

11. When the examination of the witnesses produced by the Attorney General has concluded, the Attorney General shall state the questions in reference to the occurrence on which the opinion of the court is requested. The court may make such modification in or omissions from the questions so stated and put such additional questions as it thinks fit.

12. Hearsay evidence of conversations held with members of the crew who were fatally injured in the occurrence may be admitted as evidence at the discretion of the court.

13. The court may conduct the inquiry in such manner as it thinks fit without being bound by rules of evidence.

14. The data records from CVR, FDR and other recorders may be admitted as evidence.

15. (

a

) Each party to the proceedings shall be entitled to address the court and produce witnesses or recall any of the witnesses who have already been examined for further examination and generally adduce evidence.

(

b

) The parties shall be heard and their witnesses examined, cross-examined and re-examined in such order as the court may direct.

(

c

) Further witnesses may also be produced and examined on behalf of the Attorney General and may be cross-examined by the parties and re-examined on behalf of the Attorney General.

(

d

) Every witness produced by any party may be cross examined on behalf of the Attorney General and by permission of the court every witness produced by the Attorney General may be cross-examined on behalf of the Attorney General as if that witness had originally been produced by another party.

16. When the evidence in relation to the question for the opinion of the court has concluded, any of the parties who desire so to do may address the court on the evidence and the court may be addressed in reply on the case in its entirety on behalf of the Attorney General.

17. The court may adjourn the inquiry from time to time and from place to place, and where an adjournment is asked for by a party to the inquiry, the court may impose such terms as to payment of costs or otherwise as it thinks fit as a condition of granting the adjournment.

18. Any notice, summons or other document issued under this Schedule may be served by sending it by registered post to the last known address of the person to be served.

19. The service of any notice, summons or other document may be proved by the oath or affidavit of the person by whom it was served.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

26 November 2009.

NOEL DEMPSEY,

Minister for Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

These Regulations give effect to changes to Annex 13 (International Standards and Recommended Practices for Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation) of the Chicago Convention, and also give effect to the relevant provisions of EU Directives and Regulations relating to accident investigation and maintenance of an accident and serious incident database.

1 OJ No. L319, 12.12.1994, p.14.

2 OJ No. L167, 4.7.2003, p.23.

3 OJ No. L294, 13.11.2007, p.3.

4 OJ No. L295, 14.11.2007, p. 7.

20. (1) The Minister, the Chief Inspector, the investigator in charge, or any other person concerned with the conduct of an investigation into an occurrence (wherever occurring) shall not make any of the following records available to any person for purposes other than such an investigation unless the High Court, on application to it, determines that the benefits resulting from disclosure of the records outweighs the adverse domestic and international impact that the disclosure may have on that or any future investigation

(

a

) statements taken from persons by the investigation authorities in the course of their investigation;

(

b

) communications between persons involved in the operation of the aircraft;

(

c

) medical or private information regarding persons involved in the occurrence;

(

d

) CVR recording or transcript from such recordings;

(

e

) recordings and transcriptions of recordings from air traffic control units;

(

f

) FDR records or other data recordings or output from such recordings;

(

g

) cockpit airborne image recordings and any part or transcripts from such recordings;

(

h

) opinions expressed in the analysis of information, including CVR, FDR and data recorder information;

(

i

) names of persons involved in the accident or incident.

(2) The records referred to in paragraph (1) shall be included in the final report or its appendices or, where any other report is concerned, only when pertinent to the analysis of the occurrence. Parts of the records not relevant to the analysis shall not be disclosed in the final report or in any other report.

International co-operation

21. (1) The Chief Inspector, as soon as practicable after receiving notice of an accident or serious incident, shall—

(

a

) forward a notification of the occurrence, comprising the information detailed in Regulation 9(2), by the most rapid practicable means available, to the following

(i) the state of registry, where the aircraft is not registered in the State;

(ii) the state of the operator, where the operator is not licensed in the State;

(iii) the state of design, where the aircraft is not designed in the State;

(iv) the state of manufacture or final assembly, where the aircraft is not manufactured or assembled in the State;

(v) the state of occurrence, where the state of occurrence is not aware of the occurrence, and the State is the state of registry or the state of the operator;

(vi) ICAO, if the aircraft involved is of a maximum mass of over 2,250 kg, or is a turbojet-powered aircraft;

(vii) EASA;

(viii) the Air Safety Unit of the European Commission,

(

b

) when the operator is based in the State, by the most suitable and most rapid means available, provide the state of occurrence with details of dangerous goods on board the aircraft;

(

c

) where the notice of an accident or serious incident comes from another state—

(i) acknowledge receipt of the notice,

(ii) provide the state of occurrence with any relevant information available to the State regarding the aircraft, flight crew and passengers involved in the accident or serious incident,

(iii) inform the state of occurrence whether the State intends to appoint an accredited representative, and

(iv) where such an accredited representative is appointed, furnish his or her name, contact details and, if applicable, expected date of arrival to the state of occurrence.

(2) When the State conducts a formal investigation or public inquiry into an accident or serious incident, the states referred to in paragraph (1)(

a

) and any other state which on request provides information, facilities or expertise to the investigation, shall be entitled to appoint an accredited representative and one or more advisors to the accredited representative to participate in the investigation or public inquiry.

(3) The Chief Inspector shall, within 30 days of an accident involving an aircraft of maximum mass of over 2,250 kg, send a preliminary report, as laid down in Annex 13, to the competent authorities of the states referred to in paragraph (2) and to ICAO, unless the ADREP Report has been sent by that time.

(4) The Chief Inspector shall, within 30 days of an accident involving an aircraft of maximum mass of 2,250 kg or less, or when airworthiness or matters are considered to be of interest to the other states involved, send the preliminary report, as laid down in Annex 13, to the competent authorities of the states referred to in paragraph (2).

(5) When matters directly affecting safety are involved, the preliminary report shall be sent as soon as the information is available and by the most suitable and most rapid means available.

(6) The Chief Inspector shall, when an accident occurs and the aircraft involved is an aircraft of a maximum mass of over 2,250 kg, as soon as practicable after the completion of the investigation, send the ADREP Report to ICAO, as laid down in Annex 13.

(7) Where the Chief Inspector conducts an investigation into an incident involving an aircraft of a maximum mass of over 5,700 kg, or causes such an investigation to be conducted, he or she shall, as soon as practicable after the investigation is completed, send the ADREP Report to ICAO, as laid down in Annex 13.

(8) The Chief Inspector shall send as soon as possible a copy of the draft final report to the states referred to in paragraph (1)(

a

), to all states that participated in the investigation, and through their competent authorities to the operator and the undertakings responsible for the type design, certification and the final assembly of the aircraft, and where the investigation was initiated by another state, to that state, inviting their significant and substantiated comments on the draft final report, and—

(

a

) if comments are received within 60 days, the investigator in charge shall—

(i) include the comments received in the final report, or

(ii) append the comments to the final report, or

(iii) if specifically requested by the state that provided the comments, so append the comments,

or

(

b

) if no comments are received within 60 days, the final report shall be submitted to the Minister and made public unless an extension of that period has been agreed with the state or states concerned.

(9) The Chief Inspector shall, as soon as practicable after the investigation, also send a copy of the final report to—

(

a

) all parties specified in paragraph (8), and

(

b

) any state—

(i) whose citizens suffered fatal or serious injuries in the accident, or

(ii) that provided relevant information or significant facilities,

(

c

) accredited representatives,

(

d

) advisors,

(

e

) experts,

(

f

) the Air Safety Unit of the European Commission, and

(

g

) EASA.

(10) The Chief Inspector shall, as soon as practicable after the investigation, send a copy of the final report to ICAO where—

(

a

) the occurrence is an accident and the aircraft has a maximum mass of over 2,250 kg, or

(

b

) the occurrence is an incident and the aircraft has a maximum mass of over 5,700 kg.

(11) The Minister may delegate all or part of the investigation of an accident or serious incident to the competent authority of another state or a regional accident investigation organisation by mutual agreement and consent. When part of an investigation is delegated to another state or a regional accident investigation organisation, and the State is the state of occurrence, the State shall retain responsibility for the conduct of the investigation.

(12) If an investigation is delegated under paragraph (11), the State shall use every means to facilitate it and preserve evidence pertinent to it.

(13) If, in the opinion of the Chief Inspector, it is expedient to do so, the Chief Inspector may request the assistance of undertakings from other states to supply—

(

a

) installations, facilities and equipment for—

(i) the technical investigation of wreckage and aircraft equipment and other objects relevant to the investigation,

(ii) the evaluation of information from flight or data recorders, and

(iii) the computer storage and evaluation of air accident data,

or

(

b

) accident investigation experts to undertake specific tasks, but only when an investigation is opened following an accident that, in the opinion of the Chief Inspector, is a major accident.

(14) The Minister shall, as far as possible, facilitate requests from other states for relevant information and technical assistance. When available, such assistance shall, as far as possible, be free of charge to Member States.

(15) The Minister shall not circulate, publish or give access to a draft final report or any part of such a report, or any documents obtained during an investigation of an occurrence to which this Regulation applies, without the express consent of the state that conducted the investigation, unless the report or document has already been published or released by that state.

(16) Any state that has, by virtue of fatal or serious injuries to its citizens, a special interest in an accident being investigated by the State, shall, upon making a request to do so, be permitted to appoint an expert who shall be entitled to—

(

a

) visit the scene of the accident,

(

b

) access to factual information that is approved for public release by the investigator in charge and information on the progress of the investigation.

(

c

) participate in the identification of victims,

(

d

) assist in meetings with surviving passengers who are citizens of the state concerned, and

(

e

) receive a copy of the final report.

(17) If an occurrence takes place in the State and the State receives from the state of registry, the state of the operator, the state of design or the state of manufacture a request that the aircraft, its contents and any evidence remain undisturbed pending inspection by the accredited representative of the requesting state, the State shall take all necessary steps to comply with the request, so far as this is reasonably practicable and compatible with the proper conduct of the investigation, provided that the aircraft may be moved to the extent necessary to extricate persons, animals, mail and valuables, to prevent destruction by fire or other causes, or to eliminate any danger or obstruction to air navigation, other transport or the public, and provided that it does not result in undue delay in returning the aircraft to service where this is practicable.

(18) When any, or all, of the state of registry, the state of operator, the state of design or the state of manufacture do not appoint accredited representatives, the Chief Inspector shall invite the operator and the undertakings responsible for the type design and the final assembly of the aircraft to appoint advisors to assist the investigation.

(19) When an entire investigation is delegated to the State by another state, the State shall be responsible for the conduct of the investigation, including the issuance of the final report and the ADREP report.

(20) Where safety recommendations result from sources other than accident and incident investigations, but including safety studies, and such safety recommendations are addressed to an undertaking in another state, they shall also be transmitted to that state’s investigation authority.

Accident or serious incident outside State

22. (1) When an accident or serious incident occurs in the jurisdiction of another state to an aircraft registered in the State, or to an aircraft operated by the holder of an Air Operator’s Certificate issued in the State, and the state of occurrence delegates the whole or any part of the conduct of the investigation of the accident or serious incident to the State, the Chief Inspector shall cause the investigation to be conducted in accordance with these Regulations.

(2) If an accident or serious incident occurs in the jurisdiction of another state to an aircraft—

(

a

) registered in the State,

(

b

) operated by an operator licensed in the State, or

(

c

) designed or manufactured or in respect of which any of the significant components of which were designed or manufactured in the State,

or if the State—

(i) provides information, CVR data, FDR data, facilities or experts, on request, to the state conducting the investigation into the accident or serious incident,

(ii) has a special interest in the occurrence by virtue of fatal or serious injuries to its citizens, or

(iii) provides pertinent information on any undertaking whose activities may have directly or indirectly influenced the operation of the aircraft,

the Chief Inspector shall appoint an accredited representative to the investigation and may also appoint one or more advisors or experts to assist the accredited representative. When an accredited representative is appointed, the Chief Inspector shall advise the state of occurrence of his or her name, contact details, and expected date of arrival, if the accredited representative is travelling. One or more advisors, proposed by the operator, shall be appointed by the Chief Inspector to assist the accredited representative.

(3) Where the State is requested by another state to appoint an accredited representative, the Chief Inspector shall do so and also provide all relevant information, as far as the State is able, in response to a request from such a state.

(4) If—

(

a

) an accident or serious incident occurs in international waters, and

(

b

) the State is the nearest state to it

the Minister shall, in accordance with Regulations 21, respond to requests for assistance from the state of registry, as far as the State is able. However, the Minister may delegate the whole or any part of the investigation to another state by mutual arrangement and consent.

(5) If—

(

a

) an accident or serious incident occurs in international waters,

(

b

) the state of registry is a non-contracting state that does not intend to conduct an investigation in accordance with Annex 13, and

(

c

) the State is the state of operator, state of design or state of manufacture

the Minister shall endeavour to institute and conduct an investigation. However, the Minister may delegate the whole or any part of the investigation to another state by mutual arrangement and consent.

(6) When an aircraft is involved in an accident or a serious incident in another state and subsequently lands in the State, the State shall, where possible, on request from the state conducting the investigation, furnish the latter state with the CVR and FDR data and, if necessary, the associated recorders, where the requesting state requires these items for the sole purpose of assisting an investigation that is conducted in accordance with the provisions of Annex 13.

(7) Where the State participates in an investigation conducted by another state, it shall not circulate, publish or give access to a draft final report or any part thereof, or any documents obtained during the investigation, without the express consent of the state conducting the investigation, unless such reports or documents have already been published or released by that state.

(8) If the AAIU, in the analysis of the information contained in its database, identifies safety matters considered to be of interest to other states, it shall forward such safety information to them as soon as possible.

(9) When the facilities or services located in the State have been, or would normally have been, used by an aircraft prior to an occurrence, and these facilities or services have information pertinent to the investigation, the State shall provide such information to the state conducting the investigation.

(10) The State, on request from a state conducting the investigation of an occurrence, shall provide pertinent information on any organisation located within the State whose activities may have directly or indirectly influenced the operation of the aircraft.

(11) If the location of an accident or serious incident cannot be definitely established as having occurred in the territory of any other state, and the aircraft is registered in the State, it shall be notified and investigated under these Regulations, unless the investigation is delegated under Regulations 21(11).

(12) If the location of an accident or serious incident occurred in the territory of a non-contracting state that does not intend to conduct an investigation in accordance with Annex 13, and the aircraft is registered in the State, the State shall—

(

a

) endeavour to institute and conduct an investigation in cooperation with the state of occurrence, but failing such cooperation, shall conduct an investigation under these Regulations, and

(

b

) forward notification of the occurrence in accordance with Regulation 21(1).

Occurrences involving State aircraft and foreign state aircraft

23. (1) Where a foreign state aircraft is involved in an occurrence in the State these Regulations shall apply.

(2) Where an occurrence in the State or in international airspace involves only State aircraft, the Minister and the Minister for Defence may jointly direct that the occurrence shall be treated as an occurrence to which these Regulations apply and these Regulations, with any necessary modifications, shall apply accordingly.

(3) Where—

(

a

) an accident or serious incident involving a State aircraft occurs in another state and that state does not provide for an investigation conducted by an independent civilian accident investigation body in accordance with Annex 13, or

(

b

) an accident or serious incident occurs in another state involving—

(i) an aircraft registered or operated in the State, and

(ii) a foreign state aircraft or facility,

and that state does not provide for an investigation conducted by an independent civilian accident investigation body in accordance with Annex 13,

the Minister may direct that the accident or serious incident shall be treated as an accident or serious incident to which these Regulations apply and these Regulations, with any necessary modifications, shall apply accordingly.

(4) If it appears to the investigator in charge that an investigation to which paragraph (1), (2) or (3) applies, has been completed but for the investigation of matters affecting the discipline or the internal administration of the operator of the state aircraft or facility which are more appropriate for the investigation by some other person or body, the investigation may be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as if it had been completed without such matters being investigated under these Regulations. In such a case the report of the investigation into the occurrence shall state those matters which the investigation did not deal with by reason of this paragraph.

Disposal of aircraft or aircraft wreckage

24. (1) Aircraft or aircraft wreckage preserved by an inspector pursuant to Regulation 7(1) for the purpose of investigation or public inquiry may be disposed of to its rightful owners, or their authorised representatives, on completion of the associated proceedings, or at such time as is considered appropriate by the inspector. For this purpose the investigator in charge may facilitate access to the aircraft, its contents or any parts thereof. If the aircraft, its contents, or any parts thereof lie in an area within which the investigator in charge finds it impracticable to grant such access, he or she shall, where possible, effect removal to a point where access can be given.

(2) In cases where the investigation is unable to determine its rightful owners, the investigation shall release custody of the aircraft, its contents or any parts thereof as soon as they are no longer required in the investigation, to any person or persons duly designated by the state of registry or the state of the operator, as applicable.

Disposal of records

25. The Minister or an inspector shall not be required to hold aircraft records, factual information concerning an occurrence, including photographs, witness statements or documentation pertaining to the occurrence, its circumstances, the aircraft or personnel involved in the occurrence beyond such time as is necessary for the completion of the associated investigation or public inquiry and any related statutory reports.

Database

26. (1) The AAIU shall maintain a database of accidents, serious incidents and incidents where these are investigated, using the ECCAIRS Database and Reporting System in accordance with the provisions of Article 6(3) of Directive 2003/42/EC, as part of the State safety programme. The sole purpose of this database shall be to facilitate the effective analysis of information on actual or potential safety deficiencies and to determine any preventive actions required.

(2) The AAIU shall provide the IAA with disidentified data of completed investigations involving—

(

a

) accidents and serious incidents, and

(

b

) incidents where these are investigated,

to assist in the completion of the national occurrence repository maintained by the IAA in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1321/2007 of 12 November 2007 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1330/2007 of 24 September 2007 4

.

(3) If the AAIU, in the analysis of the information contained in its database, identifies safety matters considered to be of interest to other states, it shall forward such safety information to them as soon as possible.

(4) The AAIU shall promote the establishment of safety information sharing networks among all users of the aviation system and facilitate the free exchange of information on actual and potential safety deficiencies. The database shall be maintained in accordance with the Commission Regulations referred to in this Regulation and protocols and procedures associated with ECCAIRS.

(5) The AAIU shall use ECCAIRS to meet the requirements of the ADREP reporting system.

General

27. (1) A person shall not obstruct or impede the court, an inspector, a technical assessor or any person acting under the authority of the Minister, in the performance of his or her functions under these Regulations.

(2) Subject to Regulation 11(12), every person summoned under these Regulations as a witness or required under these Regulations to give evidence or produce documents or any other object may be allowed such expenses as the Minister, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

(3) A person shall not, without reasonable excuse (proof of which shall lie on the person) fail to comply with any requirement or direction under these Regulations.

(4) If a person objects to answering a question asked of him or her as a witness at an investigation or public inquiry on the grounds that the answer might tend to incriminate that person or make the person liable to a penalty, and the person is informed of his or her obligation to answer the question, the person shall not refuse to answer the question but the answer given on that occasion shall not be admissible as evidence in criminal or other proceedings against that person, other than proceedings against him or her in respect of the falsity of the answer, or failure to answer the question.

Revocation of Air Navigation (Notification and Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 1997

28. (1) The Air Navigation (Notification and Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Regulations 1997 (

S.I. No 205 of 1997

) are revoked.

(2) The revocation by paragraph (1) shall not affect any investigation or public inquiry commenced under those Regulations and any such investigation or public inquiry may be continued and completed as if these Regulations had not been made.

Regulation 2

SCHEDULE 1 Examples of Serious Incidents

The incidents specified below are typical examples of serious incidents. These examples are not exhaustive and only serve as a guide to the definition of “serious incident”

(

a

) near collisions requiring an avoidance manoeuvre to avoid a collision or an unsafe situation or when an avoidance action would have been appropriate;

(

b

) controlled flight into terrain only marginally avoided;

(

c

) aborted take-offs on a closed, engaged or unassigned runaway, or from a taxiway (but excluding authorised operations by helicopters);

(

d

) take-offs from a closed, engaged or unassigned runway, or from a taxiway (but excluding authorised operations by helicopters);

(

e

) landings or attempted landings on a closed, engaged or unassigned runway, or on a taxiway (but excluding authorised operations by helicopters);

(

f

) gross failures to achieve predicted performance during take-off or initial climb;

(

g

) fires and smoke in the passenger compartment, in cargo compartments or engine fires, even though such fires were extinguished by the use of extinguishing agents;

(

h

) vents requiring the emergency use of oxygen by the flight crew;

(

i

) aircraft structural failures or engine disintegrations not classified as an accident;

(

j

) multiple malfunctions of one or more aircraft systems seriously affecting the operation of the aircraft;

(

k

) flight crew incapacitation in flight;

(

l

) fuel quantity requiring the declaration of an emergency by the pilot;

(

m

) runaway incursions classified as security A, in accordance with the severity classifications defined in the ICAO Manual on the Prevention of Runaway Incursions (DOC 9870);

(

n

) take-off or landing incidents, such as undershooting, overrunning or running off the side of runways;

(

o

) system failures, weather phenomena, operations outside the approved flight envelope or other occurrences, which could have caused difficulties controlling the aircraft;

(

p

) failures of more than one system in a redundancy system mandatory for flight guidance and navigation.

Regulation 2

SCHEDULE 2 The examples below serve as guidance for the determination of aircraft damage

(

a

) if an engine separates from an aircraft, the event is categorised as an accident even if damage is confined to the engine;

(

b

) a loss of engine cowls (fan or core) or reverser components, which does not result in further damage to the aircraft, is not considered an accident;

(

c

) occurrences where compressor or turbine blades, or other engine internal components, are ejected through the engine tail pipe are not considered an accident;

(

d

) a collapsed, or missing radome is not considered an accident, unless there is related substantial damage in other structures or systems;

(

e

) missing flap, slat and other lift augmenting devices, including winglets, that are permitted for dispatch under the Minimum Equipment List (MEL) or Configuration Deviation List (CDL) are not considered to be an accident;

(

f

) retraction of a landing gear leg, or wheels up landing, resulting in skin abrasion only — if the aircraft can be safely dispatched after minor repairs, or patching, and subsequently undergoes more extensive work to effect a permanent repair, then the occurrence would not be classified as an accident;

(

g

) if the damage is such that the aircraft depressurises, or cannot be pressurised, the occurrence is categorised as an accident;

(

h

) the removal of components for inspection following an occurrence, such as the precautionary removal of an undercarriage leg following a low speed runway excursion, while involving considerable work, is not considered an accident unless significant damage is found;

(

i

) occurrences that involve an emergency evacuation are not counted as an accident unless someone receives serious injuries, or the aircraft has otherwise sustained sufficient damage.

Note 1—Regarding aircraft damage which adversely affects the structural strength, performance or flight characteristics, the aircraft may have landed safely, but cannot be safely dispatched on a further sector without repair.

Note 2—If the aircraft can be safely dispatched after minor repairs, e.g. patching a tail strike, and subsequently undergoes more extensive work to effect a permanent repair, then the occurrence would not be classified as an accident. Likewise, if the aircraft can be dispatched under the MEL or CDL with the affected component removed, missing or inoperative, the repair would not be considered as a major repair and consequently the occurrence would not be considered an accident.

Note 3—The cost of repairs, or estimated loss, such as provided by insurance undertakings may provide an indication of the damage sustained, but should not be used as the sole guide as to whether the damage is sufficient to count the occurrence as an accident. Likewise, an aircraft may be considered a “hull loss” because it is uneconomic to repair, without it having incurred sufficient damage to be classified as an accident.

Regulation 18

SCHEDULE 3 Procedures of Public Inquiry

S.I. No. 460 of 2009

AIR NAVIGATION (NOTIFICATION AND INVESTIGATION OF ACCIDENTS, SERIOUS INCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS) REGULATIONS 2009

ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS

PART 1

PRELIMINARY