Air Navigation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1957

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 19/1957
• Year: 1957

S.I. No. 19 of 1957.
AIR NAVIGATION (INVESTIGATION OF ACCIDENTS) REGULATIONS, 1957.
I, WILLIAM NORTON, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 60 of the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1936 (No. 40 of 1936), hereby order as follows :—
	1 Short title and Commencement.	1.—(1) These Regulations shall be cited as the Air Navigation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1957.
(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the twenty-third day of February, 1957.
	2 Definitions.	2. In these Regulations—
" accident " includes any fortuitous or unexpected event by which the safety of an aircraft or any person is threatened ;
" Act " means the Air Navigation and Transport Act, 1936 ;
" Court " has the meaning given to it by paragraph (3) of Regulation 10 ;
" Inspector of Accidents " has the meaning given to it by paragraph (1) of Regulation 7 ;
" owner " means in relation to a registered aircraft the registered owner ;
" substantial damage " includes any damage which necessitates the replacement or extensive repair of any major component ;
references to the State include references to its territorial seas.
	3 Revocations.	3. The following Regulations are hereby revoked :
(a) the Air Navigation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1928 ( S. R. & O. No. 21 of 1928 ) ;
(b) the Air Navigation (Investigation of Accidents) Regulations, 1928 (Amendment) Regulations, 1943 ( S. R. & O. No. 288 of 1943 .)
	4 Application of these Regulations.	4. These Regulations shall apply to accidents arising out of or in the course of air navigation—
(i) which occur in or over the State, or
(ii) which occur elsewhere to aircraft registered in the State.
	5 Notification of accidents.	5.—(1) When an accident to which these Regulations apply happens between the time when any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and the time when all such persons have disembarked therefrom and such accident involves death or serious injury to any person, whether carried in the aircraft or not, or substantial damage to the aircraft, the pilot, or, if the pilot is incapacitated, the owner of the aircraft or the hirer in the case of an aircraft which is engaged on hire at the time of the accident shall send notice thereof to the Secretary of the Department of Industry and Commerce by the quickest means of communication available and notify forthwith the Garda Síochána or the local police authorities if the accident occurs outside the State.
(2) The notice required by paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall state—
(i) type, nationality and registration marks of the aircraft;
(ii) name of owner, operator and hirer, if any, of the aircraft ;
(iii) name of the pilot in command of the aircraft ;
(iv) date and Greenwich Mean Time of the accident ;
(v) position of the accident with reference to some easily defined geographical point ;
(vi) nature of the accident and the extent of the damage to the aircraft, if known ;
(vii) number of persons, if any, killed, and number of persons, if any, seriously injured ;
(viii) last point of departure and next point of intended landing of the aircraft.
(3) If the particulars specified in paragraph (2) of this Regulation are not readily available at the time of the accident the notice shall contain such of the particulars as are available and a further notice containing the remaining particulars shall be furnished as soon as possible afterwards.
	6 Access to and removal of aircraft.	6.—(1) Where an accident to which these Regulations apply occurs in or over the State and involves substantial damage to the aircraft or death or serious injury to any person no person other than a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of Customs and Excise or a person authorised by the Minister either generally or specially for that purpose shall have access to the aircraft involved in the accident and the aircraft or any part thereof shall not, except under the authority of the Minister or of a person so authorised, be removed or otherwise interfered with.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)—
(a) the aircraft or any part thereof may be removed or interfered with so far as may be necessary for the purpose of extricating persons or animals involved, removing any mails carried by the aircraft, preventing destruction by fire or other cause, or preventing any danger or obstruction to the public or to air navigation or to other transport ; and
(b) goods or passengers' baggage may be removed from the aircraft under the supervision of a member of the Garda Síochána, but, in the case of an aircraft which has come from a place outside the State, shall not be removed from the vicinity of the aircraft except with the consent of an officer of Customs and Excise; and
(c) the aircraft or any part or contents thereof, if lying in a position of danger, may be removed to such extent as may be necessary for bringing it or them to a place of safety.
(3) The Minister, or an Inspector of Accidents appointed by the Minister, may authorise any person, so far as may be necessary for the purposes of any investigation or inquiry under these Regulations, to take measures for the preservation of the aircraft or any part thereof and any other material evidence and to have access to, examine, remove or otherwise deal with the aircraft or any part thereof.
(4) Where, however, the Minister has directed the holding of a public inquiry no person (other than the Inspector of Accidents) shall have access to or examine or otherwise deal with the aircraft or any part thereof or remove the aircraft or any part thereof or any material evidence save with the consent of the Court.
	7 Preliminary Investigation.	7.—(1) The Minister may appoint a person (in these Regulations referred to as an Inspector of Accidents) or more than one such person generally or specially to carry out an investigation (in these Regulations referred to as a preliminary investigation) into any accident to which these Regulations apply, and the remuneration, if any, of an Inspector of Accidents shall be determined by the Minister with the approval of the Minister for Finance.
(2) The Minister may appoint one or more persons, being aeronautical, radio, meteorological or other experts, to act as technical advisers to an Inspector of Accidents during the holding of a preliminary investigation and may direct that the technical advisers shall receive such remuneration, if any, as the Minister, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, may determine.
(3) An investigation under this Regulation shall be conducted in such manner that if a charge is made or is likely to be made against any person, that person, or if he be deceased his legal personal representative, shall have an opportunity of being present and of making any statement, or giving any evidence and producing witnesses.
	8 ..	8.—(1) For the...