Canada. Canadian Forces. Directorate of Flight Safety : The Directorate of Flight Safety is the National Defence Headquarters organization tasked with managing the flight safety of all Canadian Forces aircraft and investigating accidents involving these aircraft.
The activities and structure of this organization, and its predecessors, evolved with the development of flight and the growth of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). The formal investigation of all aircraft accidents, military and civilian began under the direction of the Air Board, and was assumed by Canadian Air Force on its formation in February 1920. At this time there was no centralized authority for accident investigation. Instead, a Board of Inquiry was convened by a senior flying officer to investigate and report on the causes of the accident. Copies of the Boards of Inquiry completed by these officers were forwarded to Air Force Headquarters (AFHQ), who performed a statistical and reporting function. With the formation of the Department of Transport in 1935 responsibility for civilian aviation accidents passed to it.
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War the level of both operational and training flying necessitated a more coordinated approach to accident investigation. The RCAF obtained the services of Group Captain F.S. Wilkins (RAF) to head the new Accident Investigation Branch (AIB). The organization was established under RCAF Organization Order 179, dated 1941. G/C Wilkins, as executive of the new organization, was designated Chief Inspector of Accidents (CIA) and was to report directly to the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS).
In spite of this organizational presence in Ottawa, it was still necessary to use local officers to investigate accidents occuring throughout the two wartime operational commands and the four training commands. By late 1942, the flaws in this approach were more than apparent. With over 60 accidents per month, it was impossible for senior officers to fulfill both their command responsibilities and carry out thorough accident investigations. As a consequence, CAS approved the system whereby the CIA became responsible for all military aircraft investigations, and would train a group of officers who would be deployed to the commands to carryout investigations. The investigating officers would be assigned to commands, but they would report only to CIA. At the same time an Accident Statistics Section was established within AIB, taking over the function from AFHQ. These measures were promulgated in RCAF Organization Order 272, dated 30 April 1943.
By early 1947, the RCAF had shrunk to its peacetime establishment, and the AIB was reduced to a staff of five, two of whom were military clerks. The only new responsibility for AIB was that they would be responsible for investigating accidents involving the aircraft of the Royal Canadian Navy Fleet Air Arm. The new establishment and responsibilities of the AIB were formalized in RCAF Organization Order 904, dated 15 November 1947.
The next significant change in responsibilities and organization occurred in late 1952 as the RCAF grew in response to involvement in the Korean War and closer cooperation with the US on continental defence. In reporting to the CAS, the G/C F.R. West, CIA, noted the requirement for the RCAF to modernize its approach to flight safety with a programme of education and communication touching on all aspects of flying, from design, production, testing, service, flight and ground crew training, and incident and accident investigations. This expanded programme was approved by the Air Members at their meeting of 23 October 1952. The new organizational structure, consisting of three branches, - Flight Safety; Accident Investigation; and Administration Control & Foreign Liaison - came into effect on 30 March 1953, as per Directive 88/53. At this time the Chief Inspector of Accidents was redesignated Director of Flight Safety (DAFS), and the organization was redesignated the Directorate of Flight Safety.
With the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1966, as with many of the RCAF Headquarters functions, the Director of Flight Safety, now referred to as DFS, was brought under the chain of command of the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS), as the Chief of Air Staff position became the Commander Air Command. This reporting line remained the same until the 1997 restructuring of the command headquarters, whereby the command staff were relocated to Ottawa. As a result of this restructuring the Director of Flight Safety was brought back under the authority of the Chief of the Air Staff.
