Aviation accident investigation analysis methodologies used by 12 government Safety Investigation Authorities

In this 2026 study, Bills, Costello, and Cattani present a rare inside look at how 12 leading government Safety Investigation Authorities (SIAs) actually analyse major aviation accidents.

The study maps the investigation models and analytical frameworks used in practice by investigators and compares them with both ICAO guidance and contemporary academic debate.

A very normal accident

This article by Alex Pollitt recounts a serious inflight emergency after multiple, interacting failures, including smoke in the cockpit, loss of control inputs, engine overspeed and confusing indications. The author looks at how the flight crew were forced to handle ‘interactive complexity’ to recover the situation.

Followership

Followership is a topic that I always found it hard to find training content for. I never really liked the term either, as it gives a feeling of subservience…

This podcast by Ben Hutchinson sheds some light on the topic by discussing two interesting papers in this short episode.

Mentour Pilot –

Mentour Pilot is a widely followed aviation YouTube channel that explains aircraft operations, industry procedures, accident/incident histories, and pilot life from an insider perspective. It is a rich source of case studies for CRM training because many episodes analyse real incidents where communication breakdowns, decision-making errors, situational awareness lapses, or teamwork dynamics played key roles.

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