Proposal from an investigation authority, based on lessons from an occurrence, to prevent future accidents, with no presumption of blame or liability.
What it is
It is the tool that turns an investigation into real improvement. The ICAO Annex 13 definition stresses that it is never intended to create a presumption of blame. It may be addressed to a civil aviation authority, a manufacturer, an airline, an airport or an air navigation service provider, and it can be issued at any stage: if an urgent risk comes to light, there is no need to wait for the final report.
Under ICAO rules, a State that receives a recommendation must reply within 90 days, explaining what action it has taken or is considering, or why it will not act. Several authorities publish how each response is followed up and whether they judge it satisfactory, which gives recommendations considerable moral weight even though they are not binding in themselves.
Many of the safeguards now taken for granted arrived this way: collision avoidance and terrain warning systems, fire detection and suppression in cargo holds, more fire-resistant cabin materials and crew resource management (CRM) training. A typical recommendation might ask for a component to be inspected more often or for a procedure to be clarified in the manuals.
On Vuelopedia
Vuelopedia’s Accidents section covers 120 occurrences that shaped civil aviation and explains what they changed.
Related terms
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Safety recommendation. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/safety-recommendation
MLA
“Safety recommendation.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/safety-recommendation. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Safety recommendation.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/safety-recommendation.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Safety recommendation. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/safety-recommendation (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_safety_recommendation,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Safety recommendation}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/safety-recommendation},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/safety-recommendation}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/safety-recommendation |title=Safety recommendation |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}