| The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, the BEA (the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety; French: Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile) is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and incidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those investigations. (source) | |
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The crash of Air France Flight 447 on June 1, 2009, marked the beginning of an exhaustive three-year investigation conducted by the BEA. The peculiar circumstances surrounding the accident, namely a high level of international casualties, missing evidence, and substantial news media coverage, contributed to making this investigation exceptional. The analysis of data from the flight recorders, avionics systems, and human factors led the BEA to release its final report on July 5, 2012. The following four articles are adapted from the technical papers delivered at ISASI 2012, the Society’s 43rd annual international conference on air accident investigation held in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, in August by those in the BEA who were intimately involved in the investigation: Jean-Paul Troadec, director; Sébastien David, senior safety investigator; Léopold Sartorius, senior safety investigator; and Martine Del Bono, head of the Public Affairs Department. |
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| The following four articles are adapted from the technical papers delivered at ISASI 2012, the Society’s 43rd annual international conference on air accident investigation held in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. | |