That’s probably the most pernicious problem worldwide. In countries where corruption is endemic (or becoming so), accident investigation is not immune.
Yes. I think the Air India final report (probably in about six months) will be a watershed for this – one way or the other (i.e., refreshing candidness, or same-old nationalistic whitewashing, as if one person’s sui/homicidal action somehow tarnishes a quarter of the human species). Let’s hope it’s the former.
Nearly a year after the crash, the families’ fury centers on the Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (Araib), which has conducted the official inquiry.
The board reports directly to South Korea’s transport ministry – the same government department responsible for airport safety and the concrete structure that some believe worsened the disaster.
This creates a “structural contradiction where the investigation target is investigating itself”, the families said, violating what they call international aviation standards for independence
Note that in the U.S. the NTSB is independent; it does not report to the FAA director or the Secretary of the Department of Transportation.
And in this crash remember that the concrete structures under control of the transport ministry which did not break off changed this accident from what probably would have been a bunch of injuries and a few dead to one of the major air disasters with 179 dead.