Article 135 Amendments to Regulation (EU) No 996/2010

Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 5 Obligation to investigate

1.Every accident or serious incident involving aircraft to which Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 of the European Parliament and of the Council applies shall be the subject of a safety investigation in the Member State in which the accident or serious incident occurred.

2.Where an aircraft to which Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 applies and which is registered in a Member State is involved in an accident or a serious incident the location of which cannot be definitely established as being in the territory of any State, a safety investigation shall be conducted by the safety investigation authority of the Member State of registration.

3.The extent of safety investigations referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 and the procedure to be followed in conducting such safety investigations shall be determined by the safety investigation authority, taking into account the consequences of the accident or serious incident and the lessons it expects to draw from such investigations for the improvement of aviation safety.

4.Safety investigation authorities may decide to investigate incidents other than those referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, as well as accidents or serious incidents to other types of aircraft, in accordance with the national legislation of the Member States, when they expect to draw safety lessons from them.

5.By way of derogation from paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, the responsible safety investigation authority may decide, taking into account the expected lessons to be drawn for the improvement of aviation safety, not to initiate a safety investigation when an accident or serious incident concerns an unmanned aircraft for which a certificate or declaration is not required pursuant to Article 56(1) and (5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139, or concerns a manned aircraft with a maximum take-off mass less than or equal to 2 250 kg, and where no person has been fatally or seriously injured.

6.Safety investigations referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 shall in no case be concerned with apportioning blame or liability. They shall be independent of, separate from and without prejudice to any judicial or administrative proceedings to apportion blame or liability.