Next-of-Kin: Stakeholders in a Safety Investigation ?

Chengdu - 18 April 2012

Alain GUILLDOU

Head of Information and International Affairs

Organization of a Safety Investigation

State of

Occurrence

State of

Design

Designer

State of

Registry

Owner

State of the

Operator

Operator State of

Manufacture

Manufacturer

State(s) of

the Victims

Authorities

Victims

Are Victims all “Equal”?

Starvation Tsunami

Kidnapping Terrorism

Per year:

France: around 4,500 fatalities

Brazil: around 45,000 fatalities

Are Victims all “Equal”?

Air Disasters Victims

Source: Flightglobal ACAS

Per year:

France: around 4,500 fatalities

Brazil: around 45,000 fatalities

Who will admit the comparison?

AF 447:

France: 61 fatalities

Brazil: 58 fatalities

“…is considered to be an occupant of the aircraft,

or any person outside the aircraft

who is directly involved in the aircraft accident”

“…is a Victim who is not fatally injured in the accident”

Air Disasters Victims… Who are They?

A Victim…

A Survivor…

Annex 13

Common

Citizens?

VIPs?

Foreigners?

Are Air Disasters Victims all “Equal”?

Dual

Nationals?

More and more States allow dual citizenship and there are calls

for:

flexible citizenship or

transnationalism

There is no airlines requirement related to the nationality of

their passengers = Difficulties to alert their respective consulates

Dual Citizenship Issues

Who survived?

all on board:

o Lajes, Azores (Portugal) - Airbus A330 - 24 August 2001 - 306 lives were saved

o Toronto (Canada) - Airbus A340 - 2 August 2005 - 309 lives were saved

o London (UK) B-777 – 17 January 2008 - 152 lives were saved

o Hudson River (USA) - Airbus A320 - 15 January 2009 - 155 lives were saved

Issues about Survivors

Are Air Disasters Victims all “Equal”?

Third Parties? Crew Members?

Flight crew? Cabin crew?

Citizens

of a State that has signed the

Montreal Convention?

Survivors?

Who? Why?

Who survived?

only one or two? - crew members / passengers?

Tamanrasset accident (Algeria) - Boeing 737 - 6 March 2003: One survivor

Cotonou accident (Benin) - Boeing 727 - 25 December 2003: The Captain and 21

other persons survived

Comoros accident - A320 - 30 June 2009: One survivor, fifteen years old

Tripoli (Libya) - A310 - October 2010: One survivor, nine years old

Issues about Survivors

If the Captain survives with all his passengers, he is a savior

If he survives with only a few persons, he may be found “liable”

If he dies, he is among the victims

Why did they survive?

they missed their flight

they had the “right” seat

they were saved by the search and rescue teams

WHY WERE THEY THE ONLY ONES TO BE SAVED?

Issues about Survivors

Next-of-Kin

Nuclear / Immediate Family

and

Stepparents

Monoparental

or

Reconstructed Families

Who are They?

“FAMILY”

group of people affiliated by:

consanguinity

affinity or

co-residence

Airline

Who Informs Them?

Airlines: Information on Persons on Board

EU Regulation No 996/2010

Article 20

“Union airlines… “ shall implement procedures which allow for the production:

as soon as possible, and at the latest within two hours

of the notification of the occurrence of an accident to the aircraft,

of a validated list, based on the best available information,

of all the persons on board…”

Airlines: Information on Persons on Board

Established after the information

provided by the Brazilian

authorities

Condolences

Medical and psychological support

in Paris and Rio de Janeiro

Nationalities

Officials

Who Informs Them?

Condolences and National Mourning

Russia: Medvedev

France: Sarkozy

In a time of huge floods

with millions of people on the roads

Media

Who Informs Them?

What really happened in the cockpit

Various

sources

Rights

Death certificates

Compensations

Self-called experts

Lawyers

Who Informs Them?

Safety

Investigation

Body

Who Informs Them?

Three different situations:

1. The State that has nationals among the victims

conducts the investigation

2. The State that has nationals among the victims

participates in the investigation

3. The State that has nationals among the victims

does not participate in the investigation

Safety Investigation Authorities Communication

EU Regulation No 996/2010

Article 15

“5. Before making public the information…, the safety

investigation authority in charge shall forward that information to

the victims and their relatives or their associations in a way which

does not compromise the objectives of the safety investigation.”

Safety Investigation Authorities Communication

The reactions will depend on:

the ties they had with the victim:

o child (“inhuman” and illogical)

o wife / husband, mother / father…

o close friend…

the quality of the relations they had:

o officially close

o distant in reality

their safety culture

o high protection ≠ fatality

Families’ reactions - Generalities

Recurrent Questions

Did they realize

they were going to die?

Did they suffer?

Official reporting

1.15 Survival aspects

The accident was not

survivable

Example of “answers” to these questions

They claim for the Return of the Bodies

They erect memorials

At the site crash

In a cemetery

Associations - contacts with a Federation

“Conduct” a parallel investigation

Dedicated websites

Have their own “experts”

Collect witnesses’ declarations or letters

Particular demands (CVR, seats, runway length)

Issue their own reports

Meet high level people

Most Often…

Possible rivalries between various associations

Personality of their leaders

Differing objectives (compensations – helping others…)

Some stick to conspiracy theories

Supported by an army of lawyers from different countries

Meeting Next-of-Kin

Classified

Why did they only

recover 10% of the

aircraft?

The causes of the accident

Blame and liability

Words by Families

I need a name

to hate

Sharm el Sheik accident

(Egypt)

3 January 2004

135 French citizens died

Two Different Investigations

Blame

Liability

Causes

Prevention

Yesterday Tomorrow

The agenda of the investigations is usually different

Common Evidence

………………………

Different Objectives

ICAO Circular 285/NA 166

2001: ICAO Circular 285-NA/166

Organizing

Search and Rescue

Informing

persons involved

Taking Charge of

the persons concerned

Damages

and Compensations

Information to Families

Related to a Safety Investigation

Japan France Singapore

Conference on “Family Assistance: promoting an International

Approach for the Transportation Industry” to commemorate:

15th anniversary of the US Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act

10th anniversary of the ICAO Circular 285

Washington, March 2011

Updating the ICAO Circular 285-NA/166 Guidance on Assistance to Aircraft Accident Victims and Their Families

France USA

To be done

To encourage all Governments

to ratify and / or implement

the Montreal Convention

To be prepared as an airline

or a safety investigation body

to assist

and inform next-of-kin

F A T E

S Y

?

谢 谢