SKYbrary Knowledge Navigator

SIREN

Safety Intelligence & Retrieval Engine for Aviation kNowledge

Your intelligent navigator for aviation safety knowledge — powered entirely by SKYbrary content and designed for aviation safety professionals who need fast, reliable, evidence-based answers.

SKYbrary-sourced Evidence-based Aviation safety focus
01

Purpose & Mission

SIREN was developed to augment the capabilities of aviation safety professionals — investigators, safety managers, regulators, and researchers — by making the full depth of SKYbrary's knowledge immediately accessible through natural language. Instead of navigating hundreds of pages manually, you ask a question and receive a structured, sourced, contextualised answer in seconds.

Aviation safety is a domain where the right information at the right moment saves lives. SIREN was built on the conviction that SKYbrary's accumulated knowledge — accidents, procedures, human factors, regulations — should be as accessible as a conversation, not locked behind search results and document hierarchies.

— SIREN Design Rationale · Core Team Presentation 2026

The system does not generate information from general AI training data. Every answer is grounded in SKYbrary content — the same authoritative material that aviation safety professionals trust worldwide. Sources are cited for every response so you can verify, explore, and cite them in your own work.

— SIREN Design Rationale · Core Team Presentation 2026
6
Knowledge collections
15K+
Aviation acronyms indexed
99.6%
Functional test pass rate
02

What SIREN Knows

SIREN draws exclusively on six curated knowledge collections, all sourced from SKYbrary. When you submit a query, the system automatically identifies which collections are relevant and retrieves the most pertinent content from each.

💥
Accidents & Incidents
INVESTIGATIVE
Detailed records of aviation accidents, serious incidents, and near-misses, including causal factors, contributing elements, crew actions, and investigation findings.
Helios Airways HCY522 Tenerife collision Runway excursions
Aircraft Types
TECHNICAL
Performance characteristics, operational parameters, and safety-relevant attributes of commercial and general aviation aircraft types.
B737 variants A320 family Wake turbulence cat.
🛫
Airports
OPERATIONAL
Aerodrome information including ICAO codes, runway configurations, elevation, known hazards, and special operational considerations.
ICAO lookup High-altitude airports Special procedures
🏢
Operators
ORGANISATIONAL
Airline and operator profiles with ICAO designators, callsigns, fleet information, and operational history relevant to safety analysis.
Callsign lookup Operator history Fleet details
🧠
Safety Knowledge
CONCEPTUAL
SKYbrary's core knowledge base — articles on human factors, meteorology, ATC procedures, regulations, CFIT, TCAS, SMS, and all major safety topics.
CFIT causes CRM principles SMS frameworks
📚
Bookshelf
PUBLICATIONS
Curated aviation safety publications, research documents, guidance materials, and official reports available through SKYbrary's digital library.
Fatigue management ICAO Annexes Just Culture docs
03

Query Modes

SIREN automatically selects the most appropriate reasoning mode for your question. You can also select a mode explicitly using the mode selector in the interface.

INVESTIGATIVE
Deep analysis of specific accidents or incidents. SIREN retrieves full event records, cross-references related cases, and synthesises causal chains. Best for: "What happened in the Tenerife disaster?"
CONCEPTUAL
Explains safety concepts, procedures, and principles drawing on SKYbrary knowledge articles and published guidance. Best for: "What causes spatial disorientation?"
ANALYTICAL
Comparative and statistical analysis across multiple cases or topics. Identifies patterns, trends, and cross-collection insights. Best for: "What are common factors in CFIT accidents?"
04

How to Use SIREN

1
Type your question in natural language
Ask as you would a knowledgeable colleague. Full sentences work better than keyword strings. Include context — aircraft type, operator, event date — when relevant.
2
Select a query mode (optional)
SIREN detects the appropriate mode automatically. If you have a specific analytical goal, you can override the selection using the mode buttons before submitting.
3
Review the answer and its sources
Every response includes cited SKYbrary sources with relevance scores. Expand the Sources panel to see exactly which articles and records contributed to the answer.
4
Follow up or refine
Ask follow-up questions to go deeper. Mention specific aspects you want expanded — SIREN maintains context within the conversation.
05

Example Queries

💥
What were the causal factors in the Helios Airways Flight 522 accident? Investigative — pulls detailed accident record with crew actions and investigation findings
🧠
Explain how TCAS resolution advisories work and when pilots must follow them. Conceptual — retrieves knowledge articles on ACAS/TCAS procedures
📊
What are the most common contributing factors in controlled flight into terrain accidents? Analytical — cross-references multiple accident records and CFIT knowledge articles
🏢
Find information about Crossair — their ICAO code, callsign, and accident history. Cross-collection — operators + accidents, automatic cross-referencing
🛫
What are the operational characteristics of Innsbruck Airport and its known hazards? Airports collection — retrieved by name or ICAO code
📚
What publications are available on fatigue risk management in aviation? Bookshelf — returns relevant guidance documents and research papers
What is the wake turbulence category of the Airbus A380? Aircraft collection — direct technical lookup by type
06

Scope & Limitations

⚠️
SIREN answers only from SKYbrary content. It does not draw on general internet knowledge, live data feeds, or external databases. If information is not present in SKYbrary's published material, SIREN will say so rather than speculate. This is a deliberate design choice — not a limitation — ensuring that every answer can be traced to an authoritative source.

SIREN is not a replacement for official investigation reports, regulatory documents, or legal guidance. It is a knowledge retrieval and synthesis tool intended to support the professional judgement of aviation safety specialists — not to substitute for it.

Questions outside the domain of aviation safety — general travel queries, non-aviation topics — are detected and declined. The system is purpose-built for aviation safety work.

07

Tips for Better Results

▸ BE SPECIFIC
Instead of "tell me about accidents", try "What runway excursion accidents involved Boeing 737 aircraft on wet runways?" Specificity dramatically improves relevance.
▸ USE ICAO CODES
For airports and operators, ICAO codes (e.g. LOWI, BAW) trigger direct lookup with score 1.0, giving you the most precise results instantly.
▸ ASK FOR COMPARISONS
"Compare the contributing factors in the Uberlingen and Tenerife collisions" leverages SIREN's multi-hop analytical capability across multiple records.
▸ CHECK SOURCES
Always review the Sources panel. The relevance scores show how closely each retrieved chunk matches your query — low scores merit additional scrutiny.
▸ INCLUDE CONTEXT
Mention the aircraft type, date period, or operator if known. This helps SIREN route your query to the correct collection immediately.
▸ FOLLOW UP
If the answer doesn't cover what you need, ask a follow-up: "Now focus only on the human factors aspects" or "Can you elaborate on the ATC contribution?"