FSF Endorses State Letter
Arising From ICAO Task Force on Safety Information Protection
Calls on
all States to Position, Implement Recommendations to Protect Safety
Information
Alexandria, VA, October 27,
2014 - The Flight Safety Foundation announced today called for strong support
and swift adoption of the recommendations developed by the ICAO Safety
Information Protection Task Force (SIP TF), which were presented for comment to
all the member states of ICAO for new amendments to Annex 6, 13, and 19 related
to the protection of safety data.
"If we are to
enhance aviation safety along with increased traffic projections around the
world, Contracting States must rely to a far greater extent on predictive,
data-driven systems that rely on voluntary cooperation and agreements to ensure
participation," stated Jon Beatty, FSF President and CEO, in the letter sent to
ICAO today. "Yet, absent adequate SIP, these valuable open reporting systems
will dry up and go away."
Beatty added: "If some
States continue to prosecute individuals and companies for well intentioned, but
tragic mistakes, we may never learn why and how they made them to prevent it
from happening again. If some States continue to introduce the entirety of
official accident investigation reports into evidence to establish liability in
civil litigation, then companies understandably will begin to take more
adversarial and protective positions in accident investigations, which under
Annex 13 are to be used solely for safety, not liability, purposes. If some
State judicial systems sanction the compulsory discovery of voluntary disclosure
reporting systems to establish liability, organized labor and companies will
revisit their participation in these critical safety systems."
According to Beatty,
"States simply must take swift and comprehensive actions now to protect aviation
safety data from its unintended use and abuse in both common and civil law
justice systems." Beatty noted that the proposals embodied in the State Letter
represent highly useful and effective means for States to implement adequate
protection, regardless of their underlying legal systems.
The SIP TF, with FSF
general counsel Kenneth Quinn as vice-chair, was tasked in 2011 by ICAO to
examine this issue and spent more than two years researching the issue of safety
data protection. Its research included extensive sessions with
family groups, prosecutors, aerospace companies, airlines,
plaintiff's lawyers, and defense counsel. Several of its important
recommendations include:
- Create an environment that promotes the flow of safety information,
voluntary reporting, and protection of those who voluntarily report;
- Move away from voluntary guidance and require Contracting States to
adjust their domestic legislation and regulations to meet ICAO's SIP Standards
and Recommended Practices of Annexes 6, 13, and 19;
- Provide Contracting States clear parameters on using safety
information (i.e., providing a definition of appropriate and inappropriate uses)
and require Contracting States to adopt formal procedures for the protection of
safety information, with a clear focus on maintaining and improving aviation
safety, balance of the Contracting States' need for the proper administration of
justice, and cooperation with Contracting States' judicial authorities;
- Permit flexibility for Contracting States to meet the SIP principles
according to the laws and regulations of each State;
- Call upon Contracting States to assign internal responsibilities with
regard to SIP, requiring the establishment of a competent authority to determine
exceptions to the protection of safety information under the particular facts
and circumstances;
- Recognize that the disclosure of safety information should remain
exceptional (i.e., situations of gross negligence or willful misconduct) and
justified (i.e., necessary to maintain and improve safety) for the use of such
information in the administration of justice.
The Foundation called on
all States to support the important safety advances by endorsing this State
Letter by October 31, 2014.
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