Strategic Plan

2023-2027

The BEA’s strategic plan for the period 2023-2027 builds on the 2018-2022 strategic plan and was drawn up after discussions involving all BEA personnel. Its content clarifies and prioritises the BEA’s objectives concerning its safety mission.

The BEA already has both national and international recognition through its actions, results and independence in conducting in-depth and quality investigations. Its raison d’être is to have the capabilities and know-how to conduct a major investigation such as that into the accident to flight AF447. However, this is not its day-to-day work, which mainly involves general aviation investigations and investigations into serious incidents in commercial aviation, as well as a high level of international activity.

The 2023-2027 strategic plan is rooted in a context marked by a succession of crises that have been impactful on the aeronautical system and on the BEA. In terms of international civil aviation, we can mention the crisis linked to the Boeing 737 MAX accidents and their worldwide flight ban, as well as the in-flight destruction by a missile of a 737 in Iran (flight PS752 in January 2020). In geopolitical and health terms, the COVID-19 crisis, the impacts of climate change and the war in Ukraine have had and will continue to have major repercussions on air transport. The aeronautical ecosystem has nevertheless shown resilience, with activity in 2023 almost back to 2019 levels.

This strategic plan puts this complicated context into perspective with a regulatory framework that continues to evolve. It must also take into consideration limited resources, technical innovations and the expectations of society.

The BEA’s regulatory framework is principally structured around Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation. This Regulation was amended in 2018 when Regulation
(EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 was adopted. It is now possible not to systematically open a safety investigation for certain aircraft, when no one has been fatally or severely injured and in view of the lessons to be learned to improve aviation safety.

The societal, political, media and legal context evoked in the 2018-2022 strategic plan continues to grow in importance. In April 2022, a relatively minor event to flight AF011 that occurred on the approach to Paris-CDG triggered a wave of media attention, with speculations immediately being made about cyber security or the flight controls. This event gives an idea of the societal and media impact that another accident on a scale similar to that of flight AF447 would have.

In addition, the emotional context linked to air disasters was given media coverage during the nine-week trial of flight AF447, which took place 13 years after the accident and placed the families of the victims at the centre of the hearings.

The BEA has continued to acquire resources that are adapted to its needs. The construction of the new materials laboratory and IT area, and the acquisition of a new tomography machine, will help to strengthen its technical capabilities and improve its work environment. This work and future investments, including the reconstruction of the recorder laboratory and the thermal renovation of the building, are driven by the various departments concerned and provide a concrete illustration of the BEA’s desire to achieve excellence.

The work of the previous strategic plan led the BEA to reformulate its mission to better shed light on the importance of its international activity and its actions in a context of generalisation of safety management systems and approaches based on risk management. This mission remains unchanged and serves as a compass for its staff, whose motivation and skills lie at the heart of the BEA’s projects.