Article 6

Each Member State shall ensure that technical investigations are conducted or supervised by a permanent civil aviation body or entity. The body or entity concerned shall be functionally independent in particular of the national aviation authorities responsible for airworthiness, certification, flight operation, maintenance, licensing, air traffic control or airport operation and, in general, of any other party whose interests could conflict with the task entrusted to the investigating body or entity. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the activities entrusted to this body or entity may be extended to the gathering and analysis of air safety related data, in particular for prevention purposes, in so far as these activities do not affect its independence and entail no responsibility in regulatory, administrative or standards matters. The body or entity referred to in paragraph 1 shall be given the means required to carry out its responsibilities independently of the authorities referred to in paragraph 1 and should be able to obtain sufficient resources to do so. Its investigators shall be afforded status giving them the necessary guarantees of independence. It shall comprise at least one investigator able to perform the function of investigator-in-charge in the event of an aircraft accident or serious incident. If necessary, the body or entity may request the assistance of bodies or entities from other Member States to supply: installations, facilities and equipment for: the technial investigation of wreckage and aircraft equipment and other objects relevant to the investigation, the evaluation of information from flight recorders, and the computer storage and evaluation of air accident data. accident investigation experts to undertake specific tasks but only when an investigation is opened following a major accident. When available, such assistance should, as far as possible, be free of charge. A Member State may delegate the task of carrying out an investigation into an accident or incident to another Member State.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-10 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.