Guidance

How we work

Published 7 June 2018

How we investigate

One of the first questions that any member of the AAIB is asked - is how do you investigate an aircraft accident? Discover more about our investigation process.

Our publications

When our investigations are complete, we publish our findings. Find out more about the publications we produce.

How we use drones at air accident sites

Aerial images are very useful for accident investigation. Read how we can use drones to take measurements up to an accuracy of 1 cm from a height of 40 m.

Getting to the bottom of aircraft accidents

An aircraft wreckage and its flight data and cockpit voice recorders often provide vital clues to help us piece together the jigsaw of an accident, but if nobody witnesses an aircraft going missing in water, how do we find it?

Safety Recommendations

As part of our investigations, we make Safety Recommendations. These are addressed to regulatory authorities, manufacturers, operators, maintainers, government or others with the intention to improve aviation safety by preventing similar accidents from happening again.

How we investigate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) accidents and incidents

The AAIB started investigating accidents to Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in 2015. Read more about our investigations.