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Cost of Aviation Accidents and Incidents | btre report 113The following broad hierarchy should also be taken into account whenmaking the decision to initiate and categorise an investigation:1. Passenger operations2. Freight and other commercial operations3. Non-commercial operations.The decision to investigate will also have regard as to whether, in theabsence of an ATSB investigation, a credible safety investigation is likely.In view of these considerations, initiation of a formal ATSB investigationcan only be made at or above Team Leader level after discussion andagreement with the Deputy Director and Executive Director. Eachinvestigation will be categorised on a scale of 1–5 (see below).Following the initial assessment of an occurrence, and the allocationof an investigation category, a decision will be made whether or not toconduct an on-scene investigation. Subsequently an investigation maybe upgraded or downgraded. The decision to upgrade (and commit extraresources) or to downgrade must be made at Deputy Director level afterdiscussion with the Executive Director. Any decision to discontinue aninvestigation must be endorsed by the Executive Director.38The following guidance on the categorisation of aviation transport safetymatters is intended to serve as a suggested starting point based oninitial information. This guidance is not intended to cover all possiblescenarios but illustrates a broad range of typical events. It is expectedthat judgment will be required in order to categorise some events whichdo not neatly fit these categories or where the circumstances, potentialsafety value and available resources suggest that they should beassigned a different category.Category 1• An accident involving one or more High Capacity Air Transport(scheduled and non-scheduled) passenger aircraft with fatalities.• An accident involving one or more High Capacity Air Transport(scheduled and non-scheduled) passenger aircraft without fatalities- where there was a significant risk of fatalities or serious injuriesand a substantial commitment of investigative resources is likelyto significantly mitigate future High Capacity Air Transportaccidents.• A serious incident (as defined by ICAO see Attachments A & B)involving one or more High Capacity Air Transport (scheduled andnon-scheduled) passenger aircraft- where there was a significant risk of fatalities or serious injuriesand a substantial commitment of investigative resources is likelyto significantly mitigate future High Capacity Air Transport(scheduled and non-scheduled) accidents.