Air Accident Investigation Bureau (Malaysia)
Air Accident Investigation Bureau (Malaysia)
The Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is an accident investigation authority, responsible for safety investigation of all air accidents and serious incidents occurred in involving both Malaysian and foreign registered civil aircraft. The AAIB also participates in overseas investigation of air accidents and serious incidents involving Malaysian civil registered aircraft in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention. The AAIB is an independent investigation entity, directly responsible to the Minister of Transport.
The AAIB website is: https://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/air-accident-investigation-bureau
Chief Inspector
The head of the AAIB is the Chief Inspector, Captain Dato' Yahaya Abdul Rahman.
The AAIB and Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370
On Tuesday, 15 April 2014, 39 days after flight MH370 went missing on Saturday, 8 March 2014, the Malaysian Minister of Defence and Acting Minister for Transport, Hishamuddin Hussein, announced that Cabinet has agreed to set up an International Investigation Team to specifically look into the MH370 incident. The Team, officially named the The Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, was instituted by the Minister of Transport on Friday, 25 April 2014. ( Safety Investigation Report MH370/01/2018 2.7.1)
Malaysia is the State of Registry and the State of the Operator. As the AAIB website states:-
Malaysia is leading the investigation into the disappearance of MH370 as a state of registry. A team of independent investigators was formed on 25th April 2014 to carry out an independent safety investigation in accordance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization Annex 13 and Malaysia Civil Aviation Regulation 1996 (ICAO Annex 13 and CAR 1996). Seven (7) Accredited Representatives namely from Australia, China, France, Singapore, United States, Indonesia and the United Kingdom.
The AAIB and Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17
On Thursday, 17 July 2014 Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down while flying over eastern Ukraine.
The ICAO Annex 13 investigation Team is led by the Netherlands and consists of Accredited Representatives from Malaysia, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.
There is also an ongoing criminal investigation.
Accredited Representative
An Accredited Representative is 'a person designated by a State, on the basis of his or her qualifications, for the purpose of participating in an investigation conducted by another State. Where the State has established an accident investigation authority, the designated accredited representative would normally be from that authority.' (ICAO Annex 13).
Useful Links
The following links were current as at January 2021:-
- About the AAIB
- https://www.mot.gov.my/en/about/division-unit/AAIB
- MH370 - Air Incident Investigation
- https://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/reports/mh370
- MH17 - Air Incident Investigation
- https://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/reports/mh17
- Statistics & Accident Report (AAIB)
- https://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/reports/statistics-and-accident-report-aaib
Outdated Links
The following links were valid prior to the restructure of Malaysian Government websites; and the transition of the Department of Civil Aviation into the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM). The URLs are provided because they may be useful when searching for original pages using the Internet Archive.
- AAIB Website
- http://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/air-incident-investigation
- List of Air Accidents and Serious Incidents (by year)
- http://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/air-incident-investigation
- Air Incident Investigation for MH370
- http://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/air-incident-investigation/MH370
- Air Incident Investigation for MH17
- http://www.mot.gov.my/en/aviation/air-incident-investigation/MH17