New agency will investigate air, sea and road accidents

A new agency is to be set up next year to investigate all major land, sea and air transport accidents and make safety recommendations.

The Traffic Safety Investigation Agency (TSIA) will seek to identify the causes and contributing factors of accidents so that safety lessons can be learnt by the transport industry, a spokeswoman for the Transport Ministry said.

The agency introduces a new model of safety investigation, in that a single entity will be investigating more than one mode of transport. Once established, it will replace the Bureau of Air Accident Investigation and Marine Safety Investigation Unit.

“TSIA will investigate accidents, serious incidents and incidents in the civil aviation, maritime and land transport domains, in accordance with established criteria,” the spokeswoman said. The independent agency will have a permanent structure. Its investigations will not apportion blame – that will remain up to police and the courts. Instead, it will take a “safe systems” approach, with its recommendations focusing on aspects such as engineering.

[attach id=793246 size="large" align="left" type="image"]A microlight crash in 2018. The new agency will also be responsible for...