Safety Reporting Policy

Last updated: 26 October 2026

Aviation safety stories can affect people's lives and fears, so they need more care than other news. This policy sets out how we handle them.

Official findings are our reference point

  • For accidents and serious incidents we rely on the investigating authority's published material: for example the NTSB (United States), AAIB (United Kingdom), BEA (France), the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, or the investigating authority of the country concerned.
  • Early statements, preliminary reports and press briefings are labelled as preliminary. We update the story when a final report is published.
  • We do not publish cause theories as fact. Causes are reported only as the investigators state them, or as clearly labelled analysis by a named expert.

Facts we check before publishing

  • Date, location, aircraft type and registration, and the operator, each checked against an official or regulator source.
  • Casualty and damage figures, with the source and the date of the figure. These change, and we update them.
  • Flight-tracking data (for example ADS-B-based sites) is cited with its source and time. Tracking data can be incomplete, so we do not treat it as a full record.

Respect for people affected

  • We do not publish graphic images of casualties or wreckage.
  • We name victims only with the consent of their families or when an official authority has released names.
  • We avoid language that sensationalises injury or death.

Passenger safety advice

Advice on what to do during a flight, in an emergency or in a dispute is checked against the airline's published procedures or the regulator's guidance, and we say which one we relied on.

Rumours and unverified reports

Reports on social media about defects, near misses or "cover-ups" are published only as unverified reports, and only when they are themselves newsworthy. We say clearly that they have not been confirmed.

Reporting a safety concern

If you have information about a safety issue, contact us at hello@9to5aviation.com with the subject "SAFETY". We protect sources. For a safety issue that needs action now, report it to the airline, the airport or your national aviation authority; we are a publisher, not an investigating body.