Air Accidents Investigation Branch
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigates civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and crown dependencies.
 Farnborough House, AAIB head office at Farnborough Airport | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1915 |
| Jurisdiction |
|
| 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 |
History
changeAviation 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- ↑ 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.