French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau

{{Short description|French land transport accident investigation agency}}

File:Vu du 39e étage 2, La Défense.jpg, seen in this image. Its current head office is the Grande Arche (centre) while it had been previously based in the {{Interlanguage link multi|Tour Pascal B|fr}} (to the far left of the Grande Arche) and {{Interlanguage link multi|Tour Voltaire|fr}}]]

The French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau{{cite web |url=http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/RapAct2008_ENG_cle55b757.pdf |title=Annual Report |year=2008 |publisher=French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau |accessdate=29 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923183016/http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/RapAct2008_ENG_cle55b757.pdf |archivedate=23 September 2015 }} () ({{lang|fr|Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Accidents de Transport Terrestre}}, abbreviated BEA-TT) is an agency of the French government formed in 2004 and charged with the investigation into accidents involving all forms of land transport, including railways, urban guided transportation systems (metros, trams), cable-hauled transport systems, road transport (heavy goods vehicles, and public transport by coach and bus), and canals and other navigable inland waterways.

History

Prior to the formation of the BEA-TT, the government minister with responsibility for transportation would set up ad hoc investigation commissions, for example after the 1988 Paris-Gare de Lyon rail accident and 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire. These commissions were supported by the Conseil Général des Ponts et Chaussées (CGPC, "Civil Engineering General Council").{{cite web |title=Land transport accident investigation bureau (BEA-TT) |url=http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/_affiche_article.php3?id_article=33 |publisher=French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau |accessdate=24 July 2009 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117034217/http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/_affiche_article.php3?id_article=33 |url-status=dead }}

The CGPC's experience, particularly following the Mont Blanc tunnel fire, showed there was a need for a new legal framework that guaranteed investigators access to sites, recordings and information covered by commercial confidentiality or pre-trial non-disclosure agreements. An Act of parliament passed on 3 January 2002 supplied the legal basis for technical investigations and reaffirms and mandates the investigatory principals of independence, and commits to the publishing of the report. The BEA-TT was founded by a decree on 26 January 2004, with the right of access to all elements useful to an investigation, even those covered by non disclosure or confidentiality requirements such as those pre-trial or for commercial and medical reasons.

Administrative affairs

Its current head office is in the Grande Arche in La Défense business district and in Puteaux.{{cite web|url=https://www.bea-tt.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/organisation-a1228.html|title=Organisation|language=fr|publisher=French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau|access-date=2024-07-27|quote=Grande Arche - Paroi Sud, 29e étage, 92055 LA DEFENSE Cedex}}

It formerly was headquartered in the {{ill|Tour Voltaire|fr}} in La Défense business district and in Puteaux,{{cite web|url=http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=7|title=Contacter le BEA-TT|publisher=Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Accidents de Transport Terrestre|language=French|accessdate=8 February 2015|archive-date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231152335/http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=7|url-status=dead}} - "Tour Voltaire, 7ème étage, 92055 LA DEFENSE Cedex" and previously in the {{Interlanguage link multi|Tour Pascal B|fr}} in Puteaux and La Défense.{{cite web|url=http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013103047/http://www.bea-tt.equipement.gouv.fr/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=7|title=L'organisation|publisher=French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau|language=fr|archive-date=2006-10-13|access-date=2024-07-27|quote=Tour Pascal B, 16ème étage, 92055 LA DEFENSE Cedex}}

Investigations

See also

References