Goodale pushes for crash probe reform
FLIGHT PS752
OTTAWA • Canada’s special adviser on Iran's January downing of a Ukrainian International Airlines jetliner says changes are needed in international aviation rules to allow for “more credible” crash investigations.
In a lengthy report released Tuesday, former Liberal cabinet minister Ralph Goodale also recommends that special attention be paid to those who lose loved ones in such tragedies.
Goodale was appointed by the government following the Jan. 8 downing of the passenger jet by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. All 176 people aboard were killed, including dozens of Canadians.
The exact cause of the missile strike on the plane has not been established, and Canada has lambasted Iran for its months-long delay in releasing the Boeing airliner's flight recorders.
Tehran leads the investigation due to international aviation rules. Goodale's report says that needs to change.
He writes that while “the existing international rulesbased system works well and serves the intended purpose: to uncover what happened and improve aviation safety,” the shooting down of Flight PS752 is different because “military activity is the cause.”
“Investigating a crash that results from a mechanical failure, a design flaw, bad weather, pilot error and so forth is not the same as investigating a military shootdown. The existing system is not well suited to handle the latter,” Goodale writes.
Goodale questions the current practice of assigning the lead investigative responsibilities to the country where the disaster occurs, in this case Iran.
“In the case of a military shoot-down, that means the very government involved in causing the disaster (Iran in this case) is in complete control of the safety investigation, obvious conflicts of interest notwithstanding, with few safeguards to ensure independence, impartiality or legitimacy,” Goodale writes.
“This undermines the investigation's credibility and enables a sense of impunity in avoiding essential questions.”
Goodale said that impairs the international system's ability to prevent future disasters.
Those killed included 55 Canadian citizens and 30 Canadian permanent residents, and many others with ties to Canadian universities as well as nationals of Britain, Ukraine, Afghanistan and Sweden.
A large part of Goodale's mandate was to reach out to the families and loved ones of those who died in the crash after initial complaints that the government wasn't taking their concerns seriously enough.
Goodale's recommendations call for robust, early engagement with families to give them timely information, including a password-protected web portal as part of an effort to combat fear, uncertainty and misinformation.