Many unsolved challenges at the Federal Safety Investigation Authority

The Federal Safety Investigation Authority is responsible for investigations of accidents in the areas of civil aviation, rail, shipping and cableways. It faces many challenges which hamper efficient and independent safety investigations. This is what the ACA ascertained in its report “Federal Safety Investigation Authority” („Sicherheitsuntersuchungsstelle des Bundes“) published today. The Safety Investigation Authority operates in a field of tension: As a subordinate department of the Ministry for Climate Action, there are areas where it cannot act fully independently – such as personnel, training or budget. However, its independence is legally required by EU law and by the Accident Investigation Act. Consideration was given to whether the Safety Investigation Authority should be reorganized, however this was not considered a priority by the Ministry for Climate Action..

The qualification of investigators was another challenge to face. For the most part, it did not yet suffice to carry out high-quality investigations without resorting to external experts, as shown by an internal evaluation of the Safety Investigation Authority in 2020. In the past, the Safety Investigation Authority was affected by negative media coverage, partly due to the long duration of accident investigations. The ACA noted an improvement in this respect: The average duration of investigations could be shortened. For example, the length of investigations in the field of civil aviation could be reduced from 27 to 15 months from 2017 onwards. However, it was still above the target value of twelve months. The audit covered the period from 2017 to 2022.

Independence of the Safety Investigation Authority must be ensured

The Safety Investigation Authority emerged from the Federal Office for Transport in 2017. It investigates accidents and serious incidents in civil aviation and in the areas of rail, shipping and cableways. The investigations aim to identify the causes of accidents and incidents in order to draw up safety recommendations and prevent reoccurrence. Questions of blame and liability are expressly excluded from the scope of the investigations.

As determined by EU law and the Accident Investigation Act, the Safety Investigation Authority must act independently. Organised as a subordinate department of the Ministry for Climate Action, it is assigned to the Directorate general IV (Transport) of the ministry. The Supreme Transport Authorities form part of the same ministry and can also be a party to an investigation. The ACA critically notes that the Safety Investigation Authority operates in a field of tension between its legally required independence and internal dependencies regarding such matters as staffing plans, choice of personnel or education and training of investigators. The ACA’s auditors recommend establishing an appropriate organisational framework and clarifying the leading roles to ensure the independence of the Safety Investigation Authority.

Backlog in investigations, expensive old cases

The final investigation reports of the Safety Investigation Authority should be published as soon as possible and no later than twelve months after the incidence.

In the field of civil aviation, the average duration of new investigations was reduced from 27 months in 2017 to 15 months in 2021. Between 2017 and 2022, the Safety Investigation Authority launched investigations on 59 incidents. In addition, 120 old cases dating back to the years 1999 to 2016 had to be processed. Among other things, this backlog was caused by a lack of personnel and by loss of data when tasks were transferred from the former Federal Office for Transport to the Safety Investigation Authority. For example, a hard drive with records pertaining to investigations was nowhere to be found and had to be considered as lost.

The ACA recommends that the Safety Investigation Authority should work in teams to avoid downtime, for example in case of longer absences of the investigators-in-charge. To date, the respective lead investigators were alone responsible for researching the causes of accidents and drawing up investigation reports.

In the area of civil aviation, payments for third-party services – such as expert opinions – for old cases dating back to the years 1999 to 2016 amounted to EUR360,000. This equals an increase of 89 percent as compared to the third-party costs of EUR190,000 for investigations initiated between 2017 and 2022.

The ACA also notes that reopening investigations can cause significant additional costs. For example, this may be necessary when a conflict of interest arises due to an official’s secondary employment. Secondary employments that prevent officials from carrying out their duties, create anassumption of impartiality or otherwise jeopardizes the service interests should be prohibited.

Safety Investigation Authority should promote reorganization and technically sound training

In the first half of 2020, an internal evaluation of the Safety Investigation Authority was carried out. On this basis, the management ascertained that the authority’s structure was only partially suitable to investigate accidents and serious disturbances in a timely, efficient and qualitative manner. For example, the qualifications of most investigators did not yet suffice to carry out high-quality investigations without resorting to third-party experts. The reorganization concept set up after the evaluation was only partly implemented by the Ministry for Climate Action and the Safety Investigation Authority. The auditors recommend updating and implementing the reorganization concept on the basis of cost-benefit considerations. Furthermore, a common training matrix for the investigators should be drawn up. In the ACA’s view, a technically sound high-quality training is essential for the work of investigators at the Safety Investigation Authority. The ACA assessed the training initiative started in 2018 as appropriate.