Air Accidents Investigation Branch - Investigations

Investigations

The AAIB conducts investigations defined under one of two categories; "Accident" or "Serious Incident". An "Accident" occurs where a person suffers a fatal or serious injury, the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure which adversely affects its performance, or where the aircraft is missing or inaccessible. A "Serious Incident" means an incident where an accident nearly occurred.

A partial list of accidents and incidents investigated by the AAIB:

• The crash of the R101 airship
• Star Tiger
• Star Ariel
• Munich air disaster, an Airspeed Ambassador crashed attempting take-off during a blizzard.
• BOAC Flight 781, the de Havilland Comet that crashed off of Elba and led to the discovery of the Comet's metal fatigue problems.
• South African Airways Flight 201, a second Comet brought down by metal fatigue.
• Staines air disaster, a Hawker Siddeley Trident stalled and crashed shortly after takeoff.
• Sikorsky S-61 disaster, a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter crashed into the sea off the Isles of Scilly, sparking a review of helicopter safety.
• Manchester air disaster, a Boeing 737 caught fire on the ground after an engine failure.
• Pan Am Flight 103, a Boeing 747, crashed near Lockerbie, Scotland after a terrorist bomb exploded on board. All 259 people on board, plus several on the ground, were killed. The incident became known as the Lockerbie air disaster.
• Kegworth air disaster, a Boeing 737 crashed on the embankment of Britain's M1 motorway after an engine failure.
• British Airways Flight 5390, a BAC One-Eleven, suffered explosive decompression when one of the front windscreen panes blew out, blowing the pilot partially out of the cockpit. The co-pilot managed to land the aircraft safely at Southampton Airport.
• Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a Boeing 747 which crashed at Stansted Airport, killing all four crew members.
• British Airways Flight 38, a Boeing 777, which crash-landed short of runway 27L at London Heathrow Airport.
• Ross Air VP-BGE, a Cessna Citation aircraft that crashed in Farnborough, London shortly after take-off from Biggin Hill Airport.
• Porthcawl Mid-Air Collision, two Grob Tutors collided over the town of Porthcawl in South Wales (it is a three way investigation).