Introduction
This organisation is a small voluntary group founded in England in 1964. It is composed largely of aviation professionals who hold the view that there have been, and to some extent still are, too many preventable accidents to public transport aircraft. Furthermore, some of these accidents and their resultant casualties arise from inadequate action on the part of the aviation industry and its Regulatory Authorities. To address these concerns, the Air Safety Group has, over its 43 years of existence, lobbied continuously to achieve improvements. Notwithstanding these concerns, however, the Group fully acknowledges the great improvement in safety that has come about since its formation.
Over its 44 year history, Group membership has comprised Engineers, Pilots, Doctors, Journalists and Parliamentarians. Membership is open to any individual interested in furthering safety in air transport. Corporate membership is not permitted but the Group welcomes individuals from other associations and professional bodies as members in their own right. The Group is always willing to co-operate with other bodies with similar aims. Meetings have been held in the past mainly at the House of Commons, although it must be stressed that the Group is independent and is strictly non-party political. Currently our meetings are held at IMechE, Birdcage Walk, London. In January 2008, the Air Safety Group and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in order that the ASG may provide aviation safety advice to PACTS. ASG/PACTS meetings are held two or three times a year at Portcullis House.
The main aim of the Air Safety Group is to promote safety in civil airline operations on a National and International basis, with particular reference to those matters, which in the opinion of the Group, are not being given sufficient attention by Regulatory Authorities and the aviation industry. It aims to achieve this by questions in Parliament, letters to, and meetings with, Ministers and officials of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and letters to the Press.
