Inquiries into this and previous incidents involving air traffic controllers have relied on radar and radiotelephone recordings, and the statements made by the air traffic controllers. However, verbal communications between controllers in the same work space is critical and integral element of the process for controlling aircraft but are currently not recorded. Without controller-station local area recordings, investigations will not always be able to identify all the contributing factors to an incident or accident and therefore valuable learnings might be lost.
The Commission believes this is a safety issue that the Director needs to address by initiating discussions with industry with a view to mandating the installation of air traffic controller station local-area recordings and providing the appropriate level of protection for such recordings as intended by ICAO for the purposes of assisting any future safety investigations.
