An intake of the country’s next generation of aircraft accident investigators will begin in the middle of this year.
Accident Investigation Commission (AIC) Chief Executive Officer, David Inau, revealed during the recent Civil Aviation Conference in Port Moresby that trainee investigators will be appointed by mid-2017.
Inau said this is the direction the AIC is taking for the future.
He said currently a diploma level safety investigation course is being modified for the AIC from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau’s (ATSB) Transport Safety Diploma course.
Inau said the trainees will be mentored by an in-house trainer who is on contract for a three year term.
He added once the first batch of investigators have been trained they will skilled to further train new investigators, making the AIC self reliant in training.
The direction is expected to make the AIC a leader in capacity building within the region.