World

Publication of air crash probes falls short

November 13, 2026 10:14 am

Source: Reuters

National agencies around the world have not published enough air accident reports to generate recommendations that ‌could improve safety for the flying public, advocates said on the sidelines of an industry conference on Thursday.

Final reports are published for only about half of all aviation accidents that are investigated under international rules, despite calls by airline trade groups to improve those ​results, said an executive with one such group, IATA.

“I’d have expected to see more efforts to improve ​the current state of affairs. I don’t think 50% is acceptable,” said Mark Searle, global ⁠director of safety at the International Air Transport Association, a trade association for the world’s commercial airlines.

“It just seems ​we’re floating around that 50% and there’s no real sort of forward trajectory,” he added on the sidelines of ​the International Aviation Safety Summit in Montreal.

Article continues after advertisement

It’s not clear when a final report will be published on the June 2025 crash of an Air India Boeing 787 jetliner shortly after takeoff in Ahmedabad, India. A draft final report of the accident that killed 260 people ​was expected around October.

Before a draft can be approved, the report should be circulated to relevant participating countries ​for comments.