Air Accidents Investigation Branch
Farnborough House, AAIB head office at Farnborough Airport | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1915 |
Jurisdiction |
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Headquarters | Farnborough House Farnborough Airport, Rushmoor |
Employees | 64 |
Annual budget | >£18 million |
Agency executive |
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Parent department | Department for Transport |
Website | www |
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and crown dependencies.
History
[change | change source]Aviation accident investigation in the United Kingdom started in 1912,[1] when the Royal Aero Club published a report into a fatal accident at Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey.[2]
The AAIB was established in 1915 as the Accidents Investigation Branch (AIB) of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). Captain G B Cockburn[3] was appointed "Inspector of Accidents" for the RFC, reporting directly to the Director General of Military Aeronautics in the War Office.[4][5]
After the First World War, the Department of Civil Aviation was set up in the Air Ministry and the AIB became part of that department with a remit to investigate both civil and military aviation accidents.[6]
Following the Second World War a Ministry of Civil Aviation was established and in 1946 the AIB was transferred to it, but continued to assist the Royal Air Force with accident investigations – a situation which has continued ever since.
After working under various parent ministries,[source?] including the Department of Trade,[7] the AIB moved to the then Department of Transport in 1983 and in November 1987 its name was changed to the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).[8] Latterly, the AAIB has become part of the reorganised Department for Transport (DfT)[9] since 2002. In 2024, the AAIB was awarded the Lennox-Boyd Award by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.[10]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Hradecky, Simon (8 June 2012). "United Kingdom's Air Accident Investigation Board celebrates 100 years of air accident investigation". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ↑ "Brooklands accident". Flight. No. 8 June 1912. p. 513. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
- ↑ The London Gazette, 27 October 1916
- ↑ Supplement to the London Gazette, 7 January 1918
- ↑ Turner, Charles Cyril (1927). The Old Flying Days. Arno Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-405-03783-2.
- ↑ Route to Egypt Losses Enquiry, Hansard, 30 October 1919 vol 120 cc914-5W
- ↑ "Turkish Airlines DC-10 TC-JAV Report on the accident in the Ermenonville Forest, France on 3 March 1974." (Archive) Accidents Investigation Branch. Retrieved on 29 April 2012.
- ↑ "About us". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
- ↑ "Welcome to the Website of the AAIB". AAIB. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ↑ "AAIB awarded Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Lennox-Boyd Award 2024". United K9+ingdom Government. Retrieved 13 September 2024.