Originally Posted by
reCALcitrant
Pretty much all correct. A SIB finds causal factors. No retribution except if something criminal is found out. The AIB can use the same info etc to determine if the Pilots did something punishable. This is pretty rare. Usually just an FEB and returned to duty. It sounds like these guys did nothing wrong. Just bad WX and maybe couldn't get anywhere else. The AF expects to crash planes. We just don't expect drunks, cowboys, etc to do it.
If a SIB finds anything criminal the SIB is over and everything goes to the AIB.
The AIB gets the factual information from the SIB, but nothing privleged. You have to talk to a SIB, under privlege, not necessarily to an AIB.
Sometimes SIBs and AIBs reach different conclusions. Sometimes wildly different.