30
3. IRAN’S CIVIL AVIATION 3.1 Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO.IRI) CAO.IRI, in accordance with international obligations and domestic regulation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is in charge of monitoring the proper implementation of the laws and regulations and standards of flight in the civil aviation industries of the country. In order to identify the sources of threats on flight safety, based on the International Regulations of the ICAO Annex 13, the AAIB office institutes the investigation of the civil aircraft accidents/incidents under CAO.IRI supervision. The goal is to determine the main cause and contributing factors through impartial and independent investigations and ultimately issue safety recommendations to prevent such accidents or similar events in the future. In 2010 and as part of ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme on civil aviation system of Islamic Republic of Iran, ICAO found that the basic civil aviation legislation in the Islamic Republic of Iran dates back to Civil Aviation Act of 1949 (the Act), which was promulgated by Parliament on 19 July 1949. Based on Article 5 of the Act, the Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) of Iran is “affiliated to the Ministry of Road and Transportation” and headed by a “President who is Vice Minister of Road and Transportation.” “The President of the CAO shall be appointed for a maximum term of three years, after recommendation by the Minister of Road and Transportation and approval by the Cabinet.” The Act also recognized CAO as the agency responsible for conducting investigations. Through the years, countries around the world have improved their domestic legislations towards achieving a fully independent agency for aviation safety investigations. For instance, the United States Congress passed the Independence Safety Board Act for National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to become a fully independent agency on April 1, 1975. The CAO of Iran, however, changed to CAO.IRI after the Islamic revolution in 1978 and amended in 1999 with no tangible effort towards the goal of independence. Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AAIB) is the authority that is designated by CAO.IRI for investigation. This office within the CAO.IRI which drafted the Final Report for the downing of PS752. The ICAO audit programme found that the current legislation in the Islamic Republic of Iran “does not provide for the independence of the organization in conducting aircraft accident and serious incident investigations [SI&A]” and recommends “the Islamic Republic of Iran should, in its legislation, provide for the independence of the authority designated to conduct aircraft accident and serious incident investigations.” CAO.IRI response to this recommendation was basically confirming that the entity is “supervised” by the Ministry of Transportation as well as Supreme National Security Council. This is obviously not acceptable and is against provisions of ICAO on independence of accident investigation authority. Therefore, ICAO’s response to CAO.IRI explanation was that this “does not address this ICAO finding and recommendation.” Therefore, the current organizational structure of Iran’s AAIB has demonstrated the lack of impartiality for the fulfillment of SI&A requirements per Annex 13 standards. The dependency of accident investigation by military related entities, has been a common practice in the Islamic Republic of Iran and was even objected by Iranian parliament. Additionally, there has been several civil and military aircraft crashes in Iranian aviation history, after Islamic revolution, with no reliable investigation on the cause and corrective actions to improve safety records. Probably the unique and unusual position of CAO.IRI and AAIB office was in absolute denial. The President of CAO.IRI never recognized the downing of the Ukrainian International Airliner by a military group,
