The obligations of European Union member states with regard to civil aviation safety investigations are laid down in consolidated regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation. The general principle of this regulation is that any accident or serious incident involving a civil aviation aircraft covered by regulation (EU) No 2018/1139 must be the subject of a safety investigation in the member state of occurrence. This obligation applies to all aircraft, including unmanned aircraft (drones).
However, there are some exceptions: “the responsible safety investigation authority may decide, taking into account the expected lessons to be drawn for the improvement of aviation safety, not to initiate a safety investigation when an accident or serious incident concerns an unmanned aircraft for which a certificate or declaration is not required [...], or concerns a manned aircraft with a maximum take-off mass less than or equal to 2 250 kg, and where no person has been fatally or seriously injured.”
A contrario, safety investigation authorities may decide to investigate incidents, as well as accidents or serious incidents involving aircraft types not covered by Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139, when they intend to draw safety lessons from such investigations.
2. BEA investigation policy
In France, the BEA is the authority responsible for safety investigations.
It systematically carries out a safety investigation into the following occurrences:
accidents or serious incidents involving an aircraft covered by Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139, with a maximum take-off mass of more than 2,250 kg, regardless of the level of injury;
accidents involving an aircraft covered by Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139, where they resulted in fatal or serious injury, regardless of the maximum take-off mass;
accidents involving an aircraft covered by Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139, with a maximum take-off mass of less than or equal to 2,250 kg, which did not result in fatal or serious injury, but where the type and/or level of damage to the aircraft indicate from experience that it presented a high risk of such injury;
accidents or serious incidents involving a certified drone, regardless of the level of injury;
accidents involving a non-certified drone, where they result in fatal or serious injury.
Its procedures specify that, in addition to the investigations it is obliged to carry out under the European Regulation, when its resources allow, it also carries out investigations involving an aircraft not covered by Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139 and with respect to:
accidents involving an aircraft with an ICAO certificate of airworthiness or a special certificate of airworthiness when they result in fatal or serious injuries;
fatal aircraft accidents when they involve production microlights (excluding paramotors) or DGAC-eligible kit-built aircraft (CNSK).
3. Case-by-case investigations
In addition, the BEA takes every opportunity to investigate occurrences other than those meeting the above criteria, in particular occurrences classified as incidents in commercial air transport operated under AOC or accidents involving uncertified aircraft, but which are of particular interest to safety. Criteria for opening an investigation include:
the presumed benefits of an independent safety investigation, as opposed to an analysis by the organizations concerned;
the nature and context of the flight, where it can be deduced that third parties on the ground or unsuspecting passengers are exposed (in particular, if the activity is for the benefit of third parties);
the involvement of a widespread aircraft type (in particular certain aircraft with a restricted certificate of airworthiness);
community expectations.
These criteria are assessed at the time of notification. Subsequent developments, in particular the death of an occupant of an aircraft covered by Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139 in the following days, generally do not lead to the initial decision being reconsidered, mainly because the factual information required for the investigation was not collected or conserved.
For both the investigations which are a regulatory obligation and those covered by its investigation policy, the BEA has defined the scope and conditions of the safety investigations, taking into account the consequences of the accident or serious incident and the lessons it intends to draw from them with a view to improving aviation safety.
4. Absence of systematic investigations
The investigation policy implies the absence of systematic investigations into:
fatal accidents involving aircraft that are not certified and are not production aircraft or are not widespread;
fatal accidents involving paramotors;
accidents involving aircraft covered by Regulation (EU) No 2018/1139, with a maximum take-off mass of less than or equal to 2,250 kg, that have not resulted in fatal or serious injury and where the typology and/or level of damage to the aircraft indicates from experience that it presented a low risk of such injury.
5. To summarize
In general, the BEA investigates the following occurrences:
