ICAO ANNEX 13 PDF

Applicability

While the Annex has been adopted pursuant to the provisions of Article 37 of the Convention, Aircraft Accident Inquiry is itself the subject of Article 26 of the Convention. This Article imposes an obligation on the State in which the aircraft accident occurs to institute an inquiry in certain circumstances and, as far as its laws permit, to conduct the inquiry in accordance with ICAO procedure. However, Article 26 does not preclude the taking of further action in the field of aircraft accident investigation and the procedures set forth in this Annex are not limited solely to an inquiry instituted under the requirements of Article 26, but under prescribed circumstances apply in the event of an inquiry into any "aircraft accident" within the terms of the definition herein. In order to maintain the correct relationship between the provisions of Article 26 and those of the Annex, the following principles have been observed:

a) Article 37 of the Convention is the Controlling Article in the development of an Aircraft Accident Inquiry Annex, but nothing in the Annex must contravene the express terms of Article 26, or any other Article of the Convention, nor should it contain any provision which would do violence to the spirit and intent of the Convention.

b) Subject to a) the Annex may deal with any relevant matter whether or not expressly dealt with by Article 26 or by any other Article of the Convention. For instance it is not a contravention of the Convention for the Annex to deal with the rights or obligations of States other than the State of Registry and the State in which the accident occurred; similarly the Annex may deal with the privileges to be accorded to observers entitled by Article 26 to be "present" at the inquiry. These are matters upon which Article 26 is silent. The Annex may also deal with accidents of a kind which do not fall within the provisions of Article 26.