Canadian agency calls for changes to air investigation rules following Iran report

A Canadian agency on Thursday called for changes to global rules governing air accident investigations, following criticism over shortcomings in Iran’s final report on the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176, including many Canadians. It plans to pursue discussions at the UN’s aviation agency “in the coming weeks and months” to assure independence in cases where state militaries are involved in bringing down airliners, Kathy Fox, chair of Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), said Thursday. Iran’s civil aviation body on Wednesday blamed misalignment of a missile launcher’s radar and an error by an Iranian air defence operator for the downing of the aircraft in January 2020. While the TSB called the scenario a “plausible explanation for what happened,” the independent agency said the report lacked evidence. Ukraine called it a cynical attempt to cover up the true reasons for the crash. While the rules governing air accident probes, known throughout the industry by their legal name “Annex 13,” work well, Fox said “this most recent event and investigation demonstrates that it has limitations.”<br/>