OAAI Overseer of Aeronaut Accident Investigations

To even be considered for this position in Suranth specifically, they demand at least three decades experience in Aeronautics directly, with deep preference given to being a Aero Pilot or a Ship's Engineer (the current Overseer was an Aero Pilot for four decades, is dwarven and quite young, comparatively)

There is of course an extensive interview process. This process is conducted in three stages, all overseen by the Tundra Council. The first is of course the Council themselves will hold a closed meeting, this can be spread out over more than one day as they question and prod at the expertise of the individual, having them basically give a run down, but in depth, of their experiences and credentials.

From here the candidate will then go through a second set of closed interviews over a four day period with both members of the Tundra Council as well as representatives of the Public Aeronautics Industry (for example guild reps from the various guilds, representatives from any larger provider whom wishes to send one) and be interviewed, perhaps presented with a mock accident report, mock incident data, to insure their approach and methodology is not biased towards pilot, staff or machine error, but simply one based on sound investigative procedure, letting nothing be ruled out until evidence makes clear it should be.

Lastly of course, will come the public facing 'interview'. This is when the individual will be introduced to the public at an open session of Council. By this point they already all but have the rank and job however should things go horrendously off the rails in this stage and on this day hypothetically they could see that position slip away. This session is as much about seeing how they handle inquisitive public, particularly journalists, as much, if not more than their actual tradecraft expertise.

After going through the aforementioned lengthy process, the appointment will be made official, as is the way in Suranth, but the current sitting High King/Queen of the Tundra Realms. So it was done with Colrun by High King Cormac Ironcliffe. This appointment includes a swearing in as does any government office, and a known, but not openly spoken of to the general public, fourth interview with the nation's Intelligence Apparatus, the Foxes. Basically a final security clearance check though by this point it is more of a formality for documentation than anything else, as presumably the Foxes will have done their due diligence at the beginning of this process.

As the name suggests, they oversee the department known as the Aeronaut Accident Investigation Board. The purpose and task of this board is as a third party not tied to either passengers, crew, or provider/carrier when it comes to civilian aero craft having the tragic outcome of an accident or crash landing. More specifically of course, when there is loss of life, though this is more or less the case in any such accident. Thankfully such accidents are actually very rare, however they are also almost always mass casualty events.

The job of the Board as a whole is first and foremost to establish cause. Not fault, to be clear though the two can go hand in hand, but cause. Then their next task, a much greater task, and the most important, is to come to a deeper clinical understanding of that cause. Why it happened, how the circumstances leading up to that cause, that moment of failure came to pass as best they can. Finally and most importantly, come up with actionable alterations and standards to impose upon the aeronaut industry to, with as much guarantee as possible, insure that such a tragedy can never occur in the same way again. The Overseer's duty as one might imagine is to oversee, and triple check every aspect of, this entire process. All the reports, all the documention, all suggested alterations and changes to the industry standards, everything must pass through their hands and be given their stamp of approval before going public or even into the hands of the Aeronautic business who's craft it was or the Tundra Council.

Furthermore though as noted and stressed, their job is to establish cause not fault, the Overseer in specific may need to give testimony as the expert, in cases around fault should there be any such lawsuits or criminal proceedings to come from the accident.

A hefty salary for one, the holder of this position, this office, currently makes twenty-eight thousand gold suns a year salary, which is well within the highest brackets for Geata-Iarainn where they would live and work. They are among the highest paid positions within the Suranthi Government, particularly on the civilian side. It also comes with a noted respect, you are one of the few government figures who do not generally get looped into discussions about this or that policy or like or dislike of the day. This department is quiet, and so long as when they are needed they do their jobs well and with a professionalism, this position comes with a great deal of respect and public trust.

They will have a badge for identifying themselves when needing access to accident sites of course, as well as necessary access to libraries, warrants when and if required and more. Beyond that there is a plethora of specialized equipment that can potentially see use at the Overseer's hands depending how hands on with their department during investigations they happen to be.

You can lose this position much like any other job, though since it is not an elected position that is not done through things like elections or voting. Instead it comes down to the more professional side.