New aviation regulation soon
KATHMANDU:
The government is soon enforcing a new Civil Aviation (Accident Investigation) Regulation, which, among others, makes it mandatory for the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoCTCA) to appoint a contact officer at the ministry
to collect information on air accidents and immediately dispatch a technical team to the accident site to conduct preliminary investigation.
The new regulation was prepared in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s Standard and Recommended Practices Annex 13, which deals with aircraft accident investigation, and has been endorsed by the Cabinet.
“It will come into effect soon after it is published in the Nepal Gazette,” a high-ranking MoCTCA official told The Himalayan Times.
Upon its enforcement, the Civil Aviation (Accident Investigation) Regulation 1967 will automatically become void.
The new regulation makes it mandatory for MoCTCA to appoint a contact officer at the ministry, who will be responsible for collecting information on accidents involving aircraft in the country.
MoCTCA will then need to dispatch a technical team to the accident site to carry out a preliminary investigation, based on which a report has to be prepared and submitted to the MoCTCA secretary. Currently, there are no such provisions.
However, in case of serious air accidents, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the civil aviation regulatory body, can dispatch a technical team and obtain preliminary investigation report.
If MoCTCA deems it necessary, it can also form an independent commission to launch further investigation into the air accident, the regulation says.
The coordinator of the commission should have experience in air accident investigation, while members of such a commission should be either a pilot, aviation engineer or air traffic controller with 15 years of experience or should have undergone training on air accident investigation.
The new regulation also paves the way for the country where the aircraft is registered, operating, designed or manufactured to appoint an accredited representative and send them to Nepal to conduct investigation into air accidents. Nepal can also send an accredited representative abroad in case of accidents involving Nepali aircraft.
The regulation also allows domestic and foreign investigators and their advisors to conduct two-way discussions on investigations from the initial phase to the time a final report is prepared.
However, the regulation protects the right of the government to keep investigation findings secret.
This means information recorded by cockpit voice recorder or air traffic controller and images captured by cockpit image recorder may not be disseminated unless they are for the purpose of aiding investigation. Also, interviews conducted during the investigation phase, information exchanged between air operators, and medical reports of those fatally or seriously injured in air accidents may be kept confidential.
In a nutshell
• MoCTCA to appoint contact officer at ministry to collect information on air accidents
• MoCTCA to dispatch a technical team to accident site for preliminary investigation
• Report to be prepared and submitted to MoCTCA secretary
• In case of serious air accidents, DG of CAAN can dispatch a technical team and obtain a preliminary investigation report
• MoCTCA can also form an independent commission to launch further investigation
• Nepal can send an accredited representative abroad in case of accidents involving Nepali aircraft
• Domestic and foreign investigators and their advisors allowed to hold discussions on investigations
• Government may keep the findings confidential
Definition of accidents
• The new regulation has defined accident as an event in which a person is fatally or seriously injured as a result of being in the aircraft or after coming into contact with any part of aircraft, including parts that flew out of the plane.
• Occurrences in which people are fatally or seriously injured due to direct exposure to jet blast are defined as accidents.
• The regulation has also defined collision between two aircraft or collision of an aircraft with any object as accident.
• Also, cases in which aircraft have gone missing or if they are completely inaccessible or have been severely damaged due to incidents like fire have been defined as accidents.
Source: THT
