## 7.3 Safety Incident and Accident Reporting and Analysis 

Evidence has shown that for every accident, there are many precursor events. Therefore, accident prevention programs focus on the collection, analysis, and investigation of incident data. Incident investigation is valuable because real-world occurrences are analyzed to prevent or eliminate future occurrences. The Air Traffic Organization (ATO) fine-tunes incident prevention measures by analyzing low-level indicators that may contribute to an incident or accident. 

Incident reporting prompts the ATO to conduct investigations. ATO employees who conduct the investigations reconstruct and analyze the event. They identify contributing factors and categorize them as either direct or indirect. They also identify factors that may have lessened the effect of the occurrence. 

ATO employees use the information gained from an investigation as input to recommend risk mitigation strategies and safety-enhancing measures to preclude similar events in the future. 

Corrective actions can enhance safety at all levels, from national to local. They can include: 

• Airspace and airport improvements, 

• Additional communication, navigation, and surveillance systems and/or automation systems, 

• Additional staffing, or 

• Other safety-enhancing changes. 

