Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour for me to be here tonight at the launch of the book “Flying in the Face of Criminalization: The Safety Implications of Prosecuting Aviation Professionals for Accidents”, of the two distinguished authors, Drs Sofia Michaelides-Mateou and Captain Andreas Mateou.
Globalization has led to an ever-increasing dependency of the world economy on the aviation industry. Since 1995, the number of flights in Europe alone almost doubled, reaching the unprecedented figure of 12 million per annum. Despite the current economic crisis, there is an upward trend and this figure is expected to reach 20 million by the year 2020.
Despite these staggering statistics and the technical, operational and other complexities in managing safely all these flights, air travel continues to be the safest mode of transport. According to ICAO statistics, in Europe and the U.S. the number of fatalities from air accidents during the whole history of aviation, is smaller than the number of fatalities from road accidents in one single year! This performance could not have been achieved, without remarkable innovations introduced in aviation science and technology, in the safety regulations and procedures adopted, in the increasing economic and human resources provided to the industry and above all in the improved cooperation between all stakeholders in the aviation industry.
With their in depth research and their case study analysis of almost all the aviation criminal cases recorded in the last 50 years, the authors Dr. Sofia Michaelides–Mateou and Captain Andreas Mateou, provide a thorough historical presentation, but also an elaborate analysis of the changes that have taken place over the years in the search for greater accountability.
The investigation that follows an air accident addresses quite a number of stakeholders of the aviation industry, including, inter alia, the manufacturers, the airlines, the management and post-holders, the pilots and crew, the engineers, the maintenance organizations, the supervisory authorities, the air traffic controllers, the airport authorities and personnel and the ground handlers.
The book tries through comprehensive references to actual incidents and accidents, through detailed accounts of investigations, to give to the reader the story as the investigators saw it. More importantly, it gives an insight on how the judicial authorities have handled it and how the professionals involved have been treated.
The authors identify the growing concern in the aviation industry regarding the criminalization of aviation professionals and its negative effect on aviation safety, demonstrating the need to develop uniform procedures to deal with the issue of criminalization and more importantly, the impediments to aviation safety, stemming from the increasing fear of prosecution. The situation becomes even more complicated by the incompatible approaches of different legal systems, with aviation professionals finding themselves faced with criminal charges in one country but not in another.
Written from the unique perspective of an operating pilot and a specialized lawyer the book is certainly one of the most important books written on aviation safety during the last decade. The questions that the authors raise need to be discussed at all levels by relevant international organizations, by governments and other appropriate public authorities, by prosecutors, judges and lawyers, by the aviation industry and the aviation professionals at large. One of the suggestions that the authors make is for the establishment of an Aviation Tribunal or Court to ensure the equitable implementation of legal principles, an idea that is worth of serious consideration and discussion by ICAO and the EU Commission.
We must never forget that the profound and traumatic impact that an air accident has on families of victims, on the affected societies and the countries at large, impress upon the governments, the media, the many relevant authorities involved in the investigations, as well as lawyers and judges, the obligation to make available all the answers to the many painful questions that arise regarding the investigations of each and every aviation accident, at both the technical and the judicial levels. In this respect, Flying in the Face of Criminalization is clearly a book of tremendous value that sheds light in all these important and agonizing questions.
In congratulating the authors for this excellent product of their joint work, I wish to express my hope that the book will not only be read, but it will be studied thoroughly by all involved in aviation safety around the world.