S.L. 499.22 Art. 14Powers of inspectors.

(1) For the purposes of the investigation of an accident or serious incident to which these regulations apply, an investigating inspector shall -

(a) have immediate unrestricted and unhampered access to the site of the accident or incident and to any other place or building on or in which there is or there may be found any object that, in his opinion, should be examined;

(b) have unhampered access to the aircraft, its contents or its wreckage and unrestricted control over it;

(c) have powers to secure and preserve the scene of the accident and to ensure an immediate listing of evidence and controlled removal of debris, or components for examination or analysis purposes;

(d) have immediate and unrestricted access to and control over the flight recorders, their contents and any other relevant recordings;

(e) have full access to the evidence as may be required, even when such evidence is held under the possession of the Courts of Malta or the Police, in which case the enquiring magistrate or the Police Commissioner, as the case may be, shall allow such inspector to access all evidence within the possession of the Courts or the Police;

(f) request, and contribute to, a complete autopsy examination of the bodies of victims or tests made on samples taken from the bodies of the victims and have access to and be provided with the results of such examinations or tests;

(g) request the medical examination of the persons involved in the operation of the aircraft or request tests to be carried out on samples taken from such persons and to have immediate access to and be provided with the results of such examinations or tests;

(h) have the power to call and examine witnesses and to require them to furnish or produce information or evidence relevant to the investigation; and

(i) have free access to any relevant information or records held by the owner, the certificate holder of the type design, the responsible maintenance organisation, the training organisation, the operator or the manufacturer of the aircraft, the hirer, the authorities responsible for civil aviation, EASA and air navigation service providers or airdrome operators.

(2) The investigating inspector may direct that access be forbidden or restricted, or attach conditions to such access, to any person at, or in the vicinity of an aircraft, including any wreckage or part, or other object, or any site that he considers, on reasonable grounds, might be relevant to the investigation of the accident or serious incident, for such period as the investigating inspector considers necessary, to enable a proper investigation to be carried out.

(3) For the purpose of sub-regulation (1), an investigating inspector shall have the power -

(a) to require the attendance of such persons as he thinks fit, examine them and require them to answer any question or to furnish any information or to produce any books, papers, documents and articles which the investigation inspector may consider relevant and to retain any such books, papers, documents and articles until the completion of the investigations;

(b) to take statements from all such persons as he thinks fit and to require such person to make and sign a declaration of the truth of the statement made by him;

(c) on production if required of his credentials, to enter and inspect any place, building or aircraft the entry or inspection whereof appears to the investigating inspector to be requisite for the purposes of the investigation;

(d) on production if required of his credentials, to remove, test, takes measures for the preservation of or otherwise deal with any aircraft other than an aircraft involved in the accident or incident where it appears to the investigating inspector requisite for the purposes of the investigation;

(e) direct a pathologist or other qualified person to conduct any autopsy examination of the bodies of fatally injured persons or an examination by way of analysis, test or otherwise of parts or contents of the body or of any other relevant substance or object of, or relating to, any fatally injured person and to provide a report on the results of any such examination, analysis or test; and

(f) to take such measures for the preservation of evidence as he considers appropriate.

(4) Every person summoned by an investigating inspector under sub-regulation (3)(a) shall be allowed such expenses as the Minister may determine.