The Secrecy of Safety

Bringing criminal charges into aviation occurrences resulting from inadvertent operational errors may hinder the development and free exchange of safety information which is essential to improve aviation safety, with a potential adverse effect on it.

Recent years have seen a trend in two particular factors: first an increase in the use of safety data collection systems and their contribution to flight safety compared with that gained from accident and incident investigations. Second there has been an increase in the number of occasions on which information gained either from accident or incident analysis or from safety data collection systems has been used in criminal or disciplinary proceedings against the individuals involved. A recent example of note was the use of an air accident investigation report in the criminal trial of a Japan Airlines pilot. In the event, the captain was found not guilty of charges arising out of death and injuries caused when his aircraft encountered