Aysha Alhameli Highlights Innovation in Air Accident Prevention in the UAE

As assistant director general of the Air Accident Investigation Sector (AAIS) at the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for the past two years, Aysha Alhameli plays a key role in aviation safety in the Middle East region. She previously spent 11 years as the UAE’s permanent representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). From 2007 to 2009, she was head of the Air Transport Department at the GCAA. She began her career as a pilot with Abu Dhabi Aviation, acquiring a type rating on the DHC-8 Series 202. She holds commercial and air transport pilot licenses. Captain Alhameli discusses her career, safety in the UAE, and plans for the AAIS with AIN.

Could you give an overview of your career?

It is always nice to meet with the media and to tell our story, especially as the UAE aviation industry is one of the biggest in the world, and safety is our primary objective. I started my career as a pilot. I’ve been in operations since I started out in this industry. When I joined the GCAA in 2007, my first job was as a senior regulation and investigation officer. I moved up the ladder to be head of air transport. From there, I moved to Montreal.

My career progression has always been based on strategic needs and the leadership’s vision and objectives. I was part of the talent that was designated to achieve our objectives, either here in the UAE or abroad in ICAO. I had the honor to serve as permanent representative to ICAO, which I believe is the highlight of my career—to deal with every subject that could possibly come up in this industry.

As UAE permanent representative, my career in ICAO was always dynamic. Although the intention was to go for a few years, my mission was extended for several more years because I was running for the position of the secretary-general and then for the council presidency. There was always something new during my journey in ICAO based on, again, the leadership’s vision and UAE Strategies.

The move back to the GCAA was smooth and based on the management’s belief in my competency. The director general of the GCAA designated me as advisor on international relations. I worked on a number of portfolios for about six months until I was finally appointed to lead the AAIS.

What are the main drivers of your decision to accept the role of assistant director general-air accident investigation sector?

When I was offered the role by the leadership, I saw it as a great opportunity. I report directly to the minister of economy/chairman of the GCAA board of directors, for the investigation functions, which realizes independence from the other regulatory and oversight functions practiced by the GCAA. The main objective is to prevent similar accidents and incidents from happening in the future. For me, taking up this role was a natural evolution on a strategic level to position the UAE as one of the leading investigation authorities in the world, and, at the same time, utilize my international connections and personal experience to move the sector forward.

When and why was the AAIS set up?

The AAIS was established by a decree in 2011 to have full authority separate from the GCAA. I report directly to the chairman, which means that my team and I have full independence when it comes to investigation—either investigating the GCAA or the industry. The AAIS is the sole authority in the UAE responsible for air accident investigations as per Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. We have full access to information, and individuals, either in or outside the industry to conduct efficient and effective investigations.

Could you give an overview of operations at the AAIS in 2022?

Our main daily operation is to conduct investigations into air accidents and serious incidents and generate safety recommendations to prevent accidents in the future. Publishing the investigation reports is one of the states’ obligations according to the international standards set forth by ICAO in Annex 13.

In order to fulfill our national and international obligations, we built our structure to comprise three units: Air Accident Investigation Department; Accident Prevention and Safety Recommendations Unit (APSRU); and Quality, Standards, and Publications Unit.

In addition to the investigation work, the AAIS promulgates investigation regulations and guidance material to the aviation industry and provides training to stakeholders, especially for the industry post holders and first and site responders. We recently issued revolutionary, one-of-a-kind regulations on assistance to the families of victims.

Moreover, the AAIS developed the first-of-its-kind aviation pathology protocol, which incorporates the state-level policies and coordination procedures for post-mortem autopsy investigations on the pilots for the purpose of identifying physical, physiological, and psychological factors that could have impaired their performance and contributed to the accident. Several stakeholders have participated in the development of this protocol including the Ministry of Health and Prevention, Ministry of Interior, and the local Emirates police departments, in addition to specialists from the government and private sectors.

APSRU is a newly established unit assigned to follow the implementation of safety recommendations, as well as monitoring global trends of significant concerns, and, at the same time, conducting studies on issues that we see trending in the aviation industry that could affect safety for the purpose of preventing accidents.

Did any incident take place in 2022 under your area of authority that struck you as unusual or that you wanted to mention? Or did you feel that it’s been a successful year?

The [year] 2022 has been a successful year. Luckily, in 2022, we did not experience any spike from commercial air transport operations, which gave us the chance to increasingly investigate less severe operations incidents and accidents involving general aviation and aerial sports activities such as paramotors, balloons, and recreational flying. However, we maintained watching the database for incidents and accidents reported by industry in order to identify any trend, and there was nothing unusual in 2022. Of course, we always keep an eye out and if there is any safety issue that we can foresee, APSRU will look into it and take the necessary safety actions according to the policies and procedures we have in place.

You mentioned aerial sports and recreational flying activities, is that a special operational category that you keep an eye on?

Our focus on aerial sports and recreational aviation activities is unique worldwide. Normally, aircraft accident investigation authorities in other states do not investigate occurrences of such category of operations. I have decided to investigate almost every aviation activity in order to see whether, within the strategic framework, the regulations are correctly set up, or if there are trends taking place that could affect safety. It is unique in terms of how we investigate everything.

This region has a good safety record. Could you comment?

I think we have one of the best safety records in the world, according to ICAO audits. The safety record is unprecedented internationally. Of course, there are always incidents or accidents, and that is the nature of our industry. Our job is to ensure that if something happens, we are notified immediately to carry out our response actions as early as possible.

Since I joined, I haven’t seen any alarming trends that point to safety taking a dive, or other trends. The GCAA has a very good—excellent, actually—regulatory framework and excellent oversight. I always say they’re doing their job, internationally, at a high level and this makes my job easier.

Half of my activities are involved in investigation; the rest are designed to elevate the sector’s activities in terms of using the latest technologies to come up with innovative solutions that enhance the investigation processes and competencies of my team in order to make sure that they are up-to-date with the latest trends. I would not say that there are any trends that are alarming for those reasons.

In 2016, the GCAA celebrated ranking No.1 in the world for compliance with ICAO’s aviation safety standards, gaining a 98.86 percent rating, the highest in the organization’s history. How did you achieve that in a part of the world where you would not expect to see the highest scores?

Why not? We have the biggest aviation industry and we have a visionary leadership that is empowering us to do our work. We are always working towards the UAE vision. If an idea comes from any employee, let’s say, to use technology for mapping the accident site in order to protect human health and collect evidence, let’s do it. There’s no money? Okay, let’s coordinate with the national authorities. Let’s coordinate with educational institutions. I will get the support because everyone in this framework works towards one vision. Since I started in this industry, I’ve seen the way we move; it’s fast, agile, and supported by leadership.

Nobody has limits. Every employee within this sector is empowered to achieve and come up with ideas outside of just following the norm. For me, it’s obligatory to achieve my ICAO mandate. It becomes second nature. But for me to contribute internationally and to develop the UAE to reach that goal of being the first or being the best, I have the support to do that. Our goal is to always be at ICAO standards and international best practices, keeping in mind the bigger picture.

Do you want to project a kind of international presence as the AAIS and as the GCAA?

Absolutely. The aviation industry is international. If I do something alone, it won’t matter because if I do it perfectly it doesn’t mean that I’m going to get the support from other states or make it happen in a way that makes it efficient. Let me give you a few examples of what we are doing here. The virtual reality program that we are developing with one of the local authorities in the UAE will bring about a revolution in the world of investigation. You can reconstruct the accident site, train investigators in a way that measures their competencies, while setting in a safe environment. Because accidents don’t happen every day, a simulated accident site will be a good tool for keeping them current. I see that my team will always be prepared and in a full standby state.

Last year we developed the demo and this year we are developing more complicated accident scenarios. It follows almost the same dynamics. This means the world will be able to utilize this program in order to develop investigators to help reconstruct sites to find out more evidence in order to assure that the investigation is more accurate and effective.

Another program we have worked on as a demo came from one of the pilots who joined my team recently. She said when you want to be a pilot, it’s not difficult because you have the competency list that you need to follow for you to get a license and, in two years, you are a pilot.

For you to be in the aviation industry in general, or in management or office work, there is no manual to tell you if you have these competencies [for roles such as an accident investigator]. The UAE first developed investigation competency-based training that was adopted internationally, which means that now we have clear guidelines to develop the investigator’s competencies from the time he/she joins the sector and going through all levels of job authorities, until the investigator becomes fully competent to lead an investigation into a major/complex accident.

Last year, we tested the electronic format [e-learning], which is going to be converting that competency-based training into an electronic format, where in addition to our team, we will provide a good training platform for our stakeholders, especially the first responders and investigators from other states. The e-learning is more efficient than traditional classroom training, it also saves money, saves investigators’ time, and creates a database of what investigators need to know to develop in their careers and to do the job efficiently.

Have you interacted specifically with any countries where you have been able to share best practices, such as in Africa or elsewhere?

We started by receiving requests from states where we shared best practices, benchmarked with, or helped to download the data of the cockpit voice recorders [CVR] or flight data recorders [FDR] in our Abu Dhabi Flight Recorders Laboratory (AD-FRL) and analyze it. It depends on the type of request. We also provide technical assistance to the states in the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] region through a mechanism agreed by the MENA states for utilizing the resources available in region for sharing and exchanging support among the states. Last year we had Saudi Arabia benchmark with us on family assistance, and we also supported Jordan on the readout and analysis of the CVR and FDR for their investigation into a serious incident involving a commercial aircraft.

On safety, we see no limits. Wherever we can provide assistance, we do so without even a second thought. First, it is part of our mandate—safety is international; it’s not only national. If we have the resources to support others, we do so—this is a UAE soft-power strategy and also helps to achieve the highest level of safety standards.

What new initiatives are you planning in 2023?

In 2022, we have done a lot of testing. This year, we’ll be working on the actual project: the virtual reality reconstruction of the accident site will provide a kind of simulator to train accident investigators on techniques for following processes in order to increase their competencies in a safe environment. Once it’s done, this will be promoted internationally because, as I said, this will be the first of its kind in the world. We are also working on developing training material for the e-learning system, and the team is working with a company to do that currently. 

In addition, the aviation pathology protocol will be endorsed and activated. For this purpose, we are planning to provide training to forensic pathologists and other specialized doctors and examiners (such as radiologists, histopathologists, toxicologists, etc.) who work for our aviation pathology stakeholders in order to give them the qualifications required to carry out post-mortem autopsy and examinations on pilots for identifying causes relevant to their body or to their psychologic state, which may have impaired their performance during the accident flight.

There is another challenge in the aviation community, whereby pilots, engineers, traffic controllers, and people that hold licenses cannot pursue their post-graduate education for obtaining a master’s degree, for instance, in their area of specialty. We are talking about people that have been out of the industry and then injected somewhere within government. Today, their progress in office work is hindered because of lack of educational qualifications. Now we are working with institutes in the UAE to develop a program where, based on the qualification of that professional, they do a bachelor’s and master’s, which is recognized by UAE higher education, in three years. It will cater to people who have full-time jobs and who have experience in the aviation industry. We will basically design the syllabus with the university and we will design the requirements based on the segment of people facing several hurdles to continue their education. The master’s we are working on is entitled “safety and air accident investigation.”

Which academic institution will accept that responsibility?

I cannot reveal which institution because we haven’t signed an agreement yet, but you will hear about it. This is also very important for the international community because the master’s program will be launched for both national and international target populations. Aviators across the world have a hard time pursuing their education. For example, if you’re a pilot in mid-career or higher career, you’re not going to go to a bachelor’s for four years in order to get a master’s in two years. You don’t have the time and there is no motivation for you to go and start from the beginning. It’s demoralizing, in a way, to start all over again, just to get the master’s. We see it as an international opportunity to attract people even from outside professions in order to pursue their education in a way that caters to their experience in the field.

What effect did the Covid pandemic have on the AAIS’s work?

First, in the general context, it affected aviation, but the GCAA in general dealt with Covid in a very pragmatic way. AAIS specifically experienced a drop in accidents and incidents that are reportable under Annex 13. We converted the challenges of that period to opportunities for reconstructing our processes and to improve the way we do business. For us, it was a perfect opportunity to look at our business internally in order to be prepared for what comes next. We have foreseen recovery from the moment it started, and that’s why we were working internally to get us prepared for that time, which is now, I would say.

You were able to use Covid to reorganize or plan for the future?

We reconstructed all our processes internally to make them more agile and innovative. We focused on raising the competencies of our team. We focused on the educational program. We used, of course, the technologies to do a lot of outreach to the industry, especially for training post-holders and first responders. The activities were mainly to prepare the industry for what is coming.

You said accidents aren’t an everyday occurrence, but to what do you attribute the excellent aviation safety record of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in general?

In general, there is a focus on safety through very agile regulation and oversight. I’ve seen through the years, especially in ICAO, the way the GCC countries support each other—leadership’s support and direction are clear. This is because they all have one vision. You can see the close relationships, both on the personal and professional levels, where things happen fast: sharing knowledge, sharing experiences, benchmarking, and providing assistance to those who need it.

I think that was very key in having a track record; understanding that what affects one country could affect another is also an important aspect of it. Although we are confident about the safety records of our carriers, we need to ensure the safety of their destinations.

This framework helped coordination between these countries. In the UAE, there is visionary leadership—empowering leadership—and a clear vision of where we are going, where the whole institution is going: towards one goal. Also, we are always encouraged to look outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to problems, considering the international standards, because we will always be ahead and we will always be taught and trained to be trendsetters in order to enhance either safety or innovation and make a difference in the aviation industry. Finally, we are all working in a framework where we work together. Silos, for us, are something that cannot be accepted because safety affects security, and security affects safety—whatever affects us could affect others, and whatever affects others affects us.

Everybody must have been disappointed that the 2016 Emirates EK521 accident took place?

Absolutely. That accident in particular raised many safety recommendations within the industry that changed, I believe, procedures and training in the system with Boeing. There was also a design safety recommendation, I think we only had one recommendation. That accident was unfortunate: we lost one firefighter. This is part of learning and enhancing the system, training, and procedures, to ensure this does not happen again.

The 2016 Flydubai FZ981 accident: there was talk in and around Flydubai about excessive pilot hours and how this may have contributed to the pilots’ state of anxiety, where they had to enter a holding pattern for a number of hours.

Pilots are trained for that. Pilots are trained to enter holds and to perform go-arounds. It is normal. Actually, it is encouraged: if it is not safe for you to land, you need to do a go-around. I don’t know if you know the details of the accident, and I would encourage you and the readers to look at the investigation final report, which contains insightful analysis of all aspects that contributed to the accident.

When an accident or incident happens, it’s unfortunate, but as the transportation industry literature and track record tells, aviation is the safest mode of transport. However, it’s the media that attracts attention on the accident causes and contributing factors with sometimes a level of speculations and even rumors. It’s what we’re trying to eliminate by focusing on the safety or root causes that led to the accident. Normally, this is what we focus on while avoiding apportioning blame or liability on the involved air operator, other organizations involved in the operations, or their personnel. Our job at the end of the day is to make sure that whatever happens does not happen in the future.

What makes us more powerful is the legal authority we are granted by the law to conduct the investigation independently without any involvement of the aviation regulatory and oversight responsible authority or any other body either inside or ousted the country. This gives us the freedom to manage our investigations and conclude the causes and contributing factors accurately within a reasonable timeframe.

However, if there is a solid reason that arises during the course of the investigation that an expedited safety action must be taken in order to prevent a similar occurrence, and this action cannot wait until the investigation is completed, we immediately issue prompt safety recommendations to make sure that such safety risks are eliminated.

Do you see virtual reality technology assisting in site investigation or accident site overview?

Nowadays, we have here a 3D scanner where you reconstruct the accident site, and all you need is basically the initial information and information derived from the FDR. Using the 3D simulation, the investigator can “enter” the accident site as if he is on site. The technology is there. Sometimes, in the accident site, you are rushed, especially in those places where time and money are of the essence, or it is crucial to resume operations as soon as possible especially when it comes to accidents that occur in airports. For us, reconstructing the site and using these technologies help the team know the reasons or avoid missing relevant evidence or information because of the time pressure or chaos at the accident site. I think technology is the way to go. Why do I need to be at the site if I can have a reconstruction and instead of five people at the site, have a whole team sitting here analyzing what happened?

Do you see big data helping in accident investigation?

Data is everything. If we are investigating an accident for emerging trends, data can generate analysis showing that this is nothing new, or is something natural or safe, or is something that is trending but not reported. Of course, it helps the team in conducting their investigation. Our work here is collecting data—big data. It’s part of what we do, but now we have people who are doing it. If we can have this all come together, of course, it’s going to help in the work we do.

If you have an investigation here, international people are always going to try and muscle in on that.

The beauty of our work is that everything is defined as per ICAO standards. We are in charge, but other states are allowed to be involved in our investigation under our supervision and leadership. Every state has its own system or sovereignty, the way investigations are conducted, and when, how, and who needs to be involved. We set the rules and the plan. This is well understood internationally. There is no struggle or pressure.

Have you been involved in investigations other than civil aircraft occurrences?

We have had many. We not only investigate civil aircraft accidents and incidents, but we also sometimes investigate state aircraft occurrences when we are officially requested by the government to do so. “State aircraft” are the aircraft involved in missions other than commercial operations. Usually, the request comes to us to support the investigation because of the government's trust on the integrity and maturity of our investigation system and the standards we apply. Although such investigations are not under our mandate, we conduct them in a manner similar to civil aircraft accident/incident investigations.