The Consequences of Kallis
The Commission of Inquiry, chaired by Panayiotis Kallis, has been suspended ahead of the publication of the Greek AAI & ASB Final Report that is expected to be made public this week. Once it has been examined by the Commission, the inquiry will continue, and I understand that this second phase will be based on the information contained in the Final Report.
The stated purpose of the Kallis Commission is to name those responsible for the tragedy so that the Attorney General can bring criminal liability charges against them.
The Kallis Inquiry has already introduced parts of the confidential Draft Report into the public domain and now the Final Report is to be used.
ICAO Annex 13, Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation, states that the “sole objective of the investigation of an accident or incident shall be the prevention of accidents and incidents. It is not the purpose of this activity to apportion blame or liability.”
A clear warning is given that records made during an investigation include information given voluntarily by persons interviewed and that this information could be “utilised inappropriately for subsequent disciplinary, civil, administrative and criminal proceedings.”
The consequence of using the Final Report as a basis to establish criminal liability is that vital information may, in the future, not be openly disclosed to air saftey investigators, and the lack of access to such information could impede the investigation process and seriously affect flight safety worldwide.
A very dangerous precedent.