ABSTRACT
Aviation safety reporting systems have played a catalytic role in the improvement and advancement of aviation safety during the last decades. The role in and contribution of the technical investigation to aviation safety is well recognized. The safety recommendations made following the technical aviation accident investigation are a reactive approach to aviation safety. Aviation professionals are being criminally prosecuted for the part that their acts and omissions have played in aviation accidents. Aviation safety is enhanced by identifying and rectifying mistakes and this will not be possible if aviation professionals work in an atmosphere of fear. The criminalization of pilots and ATCOs and other aviation professionals is not only on the increase but it seems that more countries around the world are criminally prosecuting pilots and ATCOs and that the category of defendants who are being criminally charged subsequent to aviation accidents is expanding to include middle and top managers and post holders.
