An expert system framework to support aircraft accident and incident investigations

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audits its Member States for safety oversight and monitors its Effective Implementation (EI). The global average EI was 68.83% in 2019, with 46% audited Member States achieving 75% EI (2022 target); however, an ICAO (2016 – 2018) audit highlighted six Annex 13 non-compliance issues. One issue was that more than 60% of Member States do not have a comprehensive and detailed investigator training program, contributing to many shortcomings that include a lack of essential and volatile evidence preservation, investigation management, investigation reporting and/or safety recommendations. This paper proposes an Expert System that captures knowledge in aircraft accident investigation generated over many years and allows aircraft investigators to share, access and interrogate accumulated knowledge to support the aircraft accident investigation process. The Expert System will improve the evidence analysing timeline, conclusion consistency and accuracy and support the on-the-job “field” training of evidence analysis through self-discovery.