Federal Agency for Aircraft Accident Investigation

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Coordinates: 52 ° 18 ′ 51.33 ″  N , 10 ° 33 ′ 10.9 ″  E

Federal Office for Aircraft Accident Investigation
- BFU -

Federal Office for Aircraft Accident Investigation logo.svg
State level Federation
position Higher federal authority
Supervisory authority Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure
Headquarters Braunschweig , Lower Saxony
Authority management Johann Reuss, director
Servants 37
Web presence www.bfu-web.de

The Federal Agency for Aircraft Accident Investigation ( BFU ) is the national investigation body for Germany required under EC Directive 94/56 / EC of November 21, 1994 on principles for investigating accidents and incidents in civil aviation .

The federal agency is based in the Braunschweig district of Waggum at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport .

history

Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, service building at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport

Pursuant to Article 26 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (“Chicago Convention” of 1944), any state in whose territory an aircraft accident has occurred must conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the accident. Those countries in which the aircraft concerned were designed, built, certified or registered can take part in the investigation. The sole purpose of these investigations is to prevent aircraft accidents and thus improve flight safety. Details on the process of such an investigation are set out in Annex 13 of the agreement.

Initially, the aircraft accident investigations were often carried out by the supervisory authority. However, since a supervisory authority can be involved in the occurrence of an aircraft accident by issuing inappropriate regulations or by failing to perform its duties, a separation of powers makes sense here. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) therefore recommended in the 1950s that aircraft accidents be investigated by independent bodies.

In order to implement Directive 94/56 / EC into German law, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Act (FlUUG) was enacted on August 26, 1998 and entered into force on September 1, 1998. It replaced the previously valid general administrative regulation for the technical investigation of aircraft accidents in the operation of aircraft .

At the same time as the FlUUG came into force, the BFU was set up as an independent higher federal authority directly subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) . Aircraft accident investigations were previously the task of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department (FUS) of the Federal Aviation Office .

structure

The BFU is divided into four departments below the director:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 Director of the BFU
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Investigation unit
Investigation of accidents and incidents
 
 Department 1
flight recorder laboratory, avionics laboratory, hall, workshop
 
 Department 2
fundamental matters, flight safety work, IT matters
 
 Department 3
Administration

tasks

The FlUUG provides that the BFU investigates flight accidents and serious incidents independently, in particular without the influence of third parties, and determines their causes. To ensure this, the BFU can be reached around the clock to record reports on accidents and disruptions in air traffic. You will be informed if aircraft accidents or serious disruptions in civil aviation occur in Germany and if German aircraft abroad are affected. A decision is then made immediately as to whether an investigation must be initiated on site. For this purpose, experts are available across the board who can take the first measures until the BFU team has arrived at the scene of the accident. The investigating officer and his team then go to the scene of the accident, if so decided. Immediately after completion of any fire-fighting and rescue measures that may have been carried out , the scene of the accident must be closed and the forensic investigation must begin. Apart from the public prosecutor's office and the police , only BFU employees have access. The evaluation of the incident investigated as well as the resulting conclusions and safety recommendations should not serve to clarify the question of guilt or liability . The sole aim of the technical investigation is to gain knowledge with which future accidents and incidents can be prevented.

Emergency vehicles

The BFU has various vehicles, some of which have special signal systems and thus rights of way according to Section 38 of the Road Traffic Act (StVO), but no special rights according to Section 35 of the StVO. If the distances covered are too great, helicopters of the federal police can also be used.

See also

literature

  • Andrea Hoferichter: Detectives of the skies. The employees of the Federal Office for Aircraft Accident Research [sic] analyze the scrap that is left over after a crash in: Süddeutsche Zeitung on the weekend, 15./16./17. April 2017, p. 35.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Budget 2020 - Section 12 - Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. Federal Ministry of Finance, accessed on August 26, 2020 (overview of positions on page 260).
  2. ^ Organization of the BFU. Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, accessed on February 17, 2013 .
  3. ^ A b Achim Schmidt: Modern police vehicles in Germany . Ed .: Joachim Köster. 1st edition. Paul Pietsch Verlag GmbH & Co, ISBN 978-3-613-02857-9 .