Causation in the system of circumstances to be established in cases of violations of safety rules for the traffic and operation of air transport

Introduction: Despite the fact that air transport is considered the safest type of transport, in recent years a significant number of accidents have been observed on the territory of the Russian Federation, which are often accompanied by loss of life, substantial material damage and cause a wide public response. The study of the causes of accidents in air transport leads to the conclusion that most of them are due to human errors (or violations), which are the last link in the chain of factors leading to accidents. Criminal liability for violation of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport is provided for by art. 263 of the Criminal Code. One of the mandatory circumstances to be established and proved in criminal cases of violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport is a causal link between the violation and socially dangerous consequences. Materials and methods: The materials of the study were the norms of Russian legislation, scientific publications of criminal scientists and experts in the field of criminal law, materials of investigative practice on the designated topic, the results of the survey and expert interviewing. The methodological basis of the study was the dialectic of the relationship and interdependence of phenomena, general scientific methods such as observation, comparison, analogy. Formal scientific, system-structural, and sociological methods (questioning and expert interviewing) were used as private scientific methods. Results of the study: The article discusses the difficulties associated with establishing a causal relationship in the investigation of criminal violations of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport. It is noted that in such cases the development of a chain of causality is complicated primarily by the multiplicity of factors preceding and accompanying the accident in air transport, which include unfavorable weather conditions, latent defects of aircraft, unfavorable psycho-physiological condition of crew members, violations of safety rules by third parties. individuals. The socalled “factor approach” to the definition of causality in accidents and the impact it has on the investigation of violations of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport is analyzed. Conclusions and conclusions: Having studied and analyzed the various approaches of scientists to the essence of causal relationships in aviation accidents and the practice of investigating violations of the rules of traffic safety and operation of air transport, the author comes to the following conclusions: 1) in order to effectively investigate crimes of this type, it is advisable to identify the immediate, main causes of the accident and the circumstances that contributed to it. The multi-factor approach to causality, which treats an accident as a result of a combination of equivalent factors, each of which would not in itself lead to what happened, is certainly acceptable in order to prevent such occurrences in the future. However, within the framework of the preliminary investigation, it is necessary to identify the main cause of the incident, which in most cases consists in violation of the rules of traffic safety and operation of air transport; 2) circumstances that contributed to the accident, such as unfavorable natural factors, hidden defects of aviation equipment, or illegal actions of third parties do not exclude the guilt of the subject if they violated one or another standard of traffic safety rules and operation of air transport, which provided for the avoidance or prevention of negative impact these phenomena; 3) a causal relationship in the crimes of the type in question should be considered established in cases where a violation of traffic safety rules and the operation of air transport preceded the occurrence referred to in Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation of socially dangerous consequences and directly led to their offensive or turned this possibility into reality.