1.The Aviation Occurrence
Investigation Act
After confronting with several major
aircraft accidents since 1994, the
government of the Republic of China
decided to establish an aviation
accident investigation organization
to institute investigations
impartially and independently. It
has resulted in the establishment of
the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) in
May 25, 1998. Chapter 8 of Civil
Aviation Act had been served as the
legal basis for the ASC¡¦s
investigation authority, and the
Regulation for Aircraft Accident and
Serious Incident Investigation has
been made based on the fourth
paragraph of Chapter 8 of the Civil
Aviation Act to regulate the ASC¡¦s
investigation operations and
procedures.
Under the circumstances of having no
independent law, the ASC had faced
restrictions when conducting
investigation, and hence unable to
fulfill the investigation duties
effectively. The government
recognized the importance of the
independency of the ASC when more
and more aviation occurrences have
become internationally involved as
the aircraft used are mostly
manufactured by foreign countries,
and passengers carried by the
national and international flights
are from different countries. The
SQ006 accident that happened in
C.K.S. International Airport on
October 31, 2000 with four different
countries involved was one of the
examples. Therefore, the government
requested the ASC to initiate an
investigation act that separates the
ASC¡¦s legal status from the Civil
Aviation Act and complies with the
international standards so as to
establish international credibility
when conducting aviation occurrence
investigations.
As a result, the ASC drafted the
Aviation Occurrence Investigation
Act referencing the legal frameworks
of international investigation
authorities and putting into
consideration the current situation
and cultural background of our
country. It is the hope of the Act
to achieve the consequences of
strengthening current aviation
occurrence investigation system,
improving the integral civil
aviation environment, and most of
all, preventing the recurrence of
the similar occurrences in future.
The Act is comprised of 5 Chapters
and 38 articles and promulgated in
June 2, 2004. The English version of
the Act has been posted on ASC¡¦s
website (www.asc.gov.tw).
2. The Operation and Handling
Regulations and Procedures of
Aviation Occurrence
The Operation and Handling
Regulations and Procedures of
Aviation Occurrence was enacted
pursuant to article 36 of the
Aviation Occurrence Investigation
Act. Three public hearings had been
taken place on September 13, 2004,
September 29, 2004 and October 8,
2004 respectively for the purpose of
acquiring different point of views
and opinions from all parties so as
to make this Regulation more
comprehensive.
3. Regulation for Aircraft Accident
and Serious Incident Investigation
The Regulation promulgated on July
27, 2000 and revision was made on
December 27, 2000. This Regulation
will be effective until the
Operation and Handling Regulations
and Procedures of Aviation
Occurrence promulgated.
4.Organization Act of the Aviation
Safety Council
On May 25, 1998, the Aviation Safety
Council (ASC) was established. It is
the hope that Taiwan¡¦s aviation
safety will be improved through
impartial and independent
investigation and the image of poor
safety can be altered.
The ASC derived its authority from
the Aviation Occurrence
Investigation Act and is responsible
for investigating the occurrences of
civil aviation aircraft, public
aircraft and ultra light aircraft
and issue safety recommendations
aimed at preventing the recurrence
of similar occurrence. To fulfill
the goal of being a non-political,
proficient and independent agency,
and building up its credibility, the
government requested the ASC to
initiate the Organization Act in
accordance with the Principals of
Organizing an Independent
Organization. The draft of the Act
now has been undergone the processes
of first reading in the Legislative
Yuan but failed to receive the final
approval in the last legislation
session. It was resent to the 6th
legislative proceeding and once the
process of legislators¡¦ endorsement
is completed, the Act will become
effective.
5. The Standard Operation Procedures
The ASC¡¦s Standard Operation
Procedures was promulgated on April
1, 1999 and first revision was made
on October 1, 2003 which is
available on ASC¡¦s website.
6. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
To facilitate the mechanism of
coordination and cooperation in
occurrence notification,
investigation, report writing,
safety recommendation issuing,
information publicizing and public
relationship, etc. with other
organizations, the ASC has signed
MOUs with the following
organizations:
Nationally:
1. Ministry of Justice on May 1,
2002
2. Civil Aeronautics Administration
on September 10, 2004
Internationally:
1. Australia Transportation Safety
Bureau in July, 1998
2. Transportation Safety Board
Canada in May, 1999
3. Bureau d¡¦Enquetes et d¡¦Analyses,
France in May, 2001
Memberships of International
Societies
1. Flight Safety Foundation /since
October, 1998
2. The International Society of
Aviation Safety Investigators/since
October 1998.
3. The International Transportation
Safety Association/since November
2000.
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Aviation Safety Council Privacy and Security Policy Tel:
886-2-8912-7388 Fax: 886-2-8912-7399 Address: 11F., No.200,
Sec. 3, Beisin Rd., Sindian City, Taipei County 231, Taiwan (R.O.C.)