The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) this week hosted members of the UK Air Accident Investigation Branch who facilitated a workshop offering guidelines to the local aviation community on what to do in the event of an aviation accident or serious incident occurring in Bermuda.

Representatives from BCAA were joined by Skyport, the Bermuda Airport Authority, Airlines, CI2, Bermuda Police Service, HM Customs, Bermuda Hospitals Board, the Bermuda Red Cross and several other organizations and spent two days learning the latest techniques in uncovering the causes of accidents - including those of illegal drone flying. The AAIB is the organization appointed by the Governor of Bermuda, who is responsible for carrying out air accident investigations, to perform these services. Under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention on Civil Aviation, States must establish and appoint an organization responsible for air accident investigations, which is separate and independent from the Civil Aviation regulator, which in Bermuda is the BCAA.

The aim of any air accident investigation organization is not to apportion blame but to uncover the root cause of any accident so lessons may be learned and improvements can be made to prevent similar issues from recurring.

The presentations invoked much discussion and were followed by practical exercises of various scenarios in the local area.

• Press release from the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority