FAI
There is always major confusion about FAI. This is partly because there are only 5 million of us, and of course mainly because most people learn most of what little they know about law from watching second rate TV.
FAI are held for specific reasons. In many cases of sudden death, if the Procurator Fiscal can readily establish why the deceased person died then there will often be no reason for an FAI. For instance, that is why FAI are rarely held for mountain accidents.
Principally, they are held if someone dies at work or in custody. Also, if the death is suspicious or unexplained. There may be public interest reasons.
In the case of a North Sea helicopter accident, UKCS Scotland, if anyone dies as a result, we can expect an FAI because all POB are there in the course of their work.
Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976,
Section 6, (1), specifies the form of the resulting determination.
(a) where and when the death and any accident resulting in the death took place;
(b) the cause or causes of such death and any accident resulting in the death;
(c) the reasonable precautions, if any, whereby the death and any accident resulting in the death might have been avoided;
(d) the defects, if any, in any system of working which contributed to the death or any accident resulting in the death; and
(e) any other facts which are relevant to the circumstances of the death.
It's a presentation and examination of a detailed investigation by a PF so that the state can establish important facts about a death. It's not a race to a finish line and it's not going to be hijacked.
Although often interesting in the way that every nuance of the situation is laid out for examination, in the end they result in a set of dry and often unremarkable facts.