AAMedP-1.7 aeromedical investigation of aircraft accidents and incidents

What it is

What AAMedP-1.7 covers

AAMedP-1.7 is NATO's Allied Aeromedical Publication on the aeromedical side of aircraft accident and incident investigation: the essential points a national Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Board covers when it looks into an aviation accident or an aeromedical incident, so that nations can exchange comparable information about what happened. Edition B, Version 2 was promulgated in April 2025, superseding Version 1.

This is a document for a nation's own aviation safety and medical investigation chain, not for a general equipment manufacturer or software supplier. It names no certification scheme and sets no contract clause for a supplier: the investigation it describes is carried out by a qualified medical officer and a national board, under national regulation, not procured from outside.

Who investigates, and what the standard asks of them

The standard asks that a medical officer, ideally with specialist aeromedical qualifications, take part "when possible" in the investigation of every aviation accident and aeromedical incident, either advising the board or sitting as a full member of it. That aeromedical member is responsible for obtaining medical information "in accordance with current national regulations," and works in close cooperation with the rest of the board to establish the sequence of factors that led to, and resulted from, the occurrence. The standard extends beyond crewed aircraft: it "relates to aircraft and UAV/RPAS accidents and incidents," and points to the accident and incident investigation chapter of the NATO RPAS airspace integration guidance, AATMP-51, for the unmanned case.

Where an accident is fatal, the standard expects the legal custodian of the bodies to facilitate the examination the investigation needs, with the aeromedical board member assisting on its aeromedical aspects, and the investigating officer working within "the national and local medico-legal policy" of the country concerned. This page does not describe what that examination covers: it is a matter for the appropriate specialist and the national authority, not a compliance criterion a reader applies. The standard also covers securing the accident scene once life-saving and fire-fighting action is complete (protective equipment where composites are involved, photographs and positional records taken before wreckage is moved, and witness evidence gathered early to avoid collusion), and it asks the aeromedical member to weigh the human factors, including the recent physical and mental health of those involved, that a specialist may need to be brought in to assess.

The two recording guides

Annex A sets the minimum aeromedical information a board records after an aircraft accident, in six parts: general information about the aircraft, the flight and the accident itself, and a summary of who was aboard; the escape sequence, whether by ejection or unassisted, and the survival, rescue and recovery that followed; how personal protective and survival equipment performed and whether it came through intact; background on each individual involved, spanning personal, physiological, psychological, organisational, engineering and environmental factors; each occupant's injuries, recorded so investigations stay comparable between nations; and, only where someone has died, a report format used for that case, completed under national medico-legal arrangements. Two appendices sit under Annex A: one covers the record kept when a helmet has been damaged, and the other is a structured post-ejection questionnaire an aeromedical investigator can use, covering the ejection itself, the aircrew and their equipment, and what happened afterwards, for sharing between nations "should national policies permit."

Annex B covers a different case: an aeromedical incident during aircraft operations that falls short of an accident, an in-flight medical event rather than a crash. It sets out what to record in three parts: the aircraft and the sortie, the individual's relevant background, and the circumstances of the in-flight incident itself.

How it binds

AAMedP-1.7 sits under STANAG 3318, the NATO agreement recording nations' commitment to use it; that is the cover which gives the publication its force. The nations that approved it did so in the Military Committee Air Standardization Board (MCSAB). The document's own record of reservations shows the Czech Republic and North Macedonia unable to meet the test-equipment requirement behind the helmet-damage record in Appendix 1 to Annex A, Italy assigning that same appendix's data collection to a different national authority, and Spain reserving on exchanging personal information it treats as confidential, which is how a NATO Allied Publication like this one is adopted with national exceptions rather than word for word.

How you are evaluated

AAMedP-1.7 names no certification or accreditation scheme, and no organisation audits a supplier against it: this is not something a company is assessed against at all. What runs instead is a nation's own aviation safety and medical chain: the Aircraft Accident and Incident Investigation Board carries out the work, the aeromedical member obtains medical information "in accordance with current national regulations," and a fatal case proceeds under the country's own medico-legal policy. There is no external body standing over that process.

Standards it references

• [STANAG 3318](/standards/stanag-3318) - the NATO agreement recording nations' commitment to use this publication; the cover that gives AAMedP-1.7 its force.
• [AATMP-51](/standards/aatmp-51) - NATO Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Airspace Integration. Referenced for its own accident and incident investigation chapter, covering UAV/RPAS occurrences; related reading rather than a second binding requirement.

Standards it references

• AATMP-51Background