Safety Recommendation
A formal proposal from the investigators to a regulator or operator. Recommendations are not binding: the regulator decides what to mandate.
A recommendation is addressed to whoever can act on it, and the recipient is normally required to respond within a set period saying what it will do. The investigating authority then classifies the response.
Urgent recommendations can be issued during an investigation, ahead of any report, when the risk will not wait. Where a recommendation leads to a mandatory change, that change usually arrives as an airworthiness directive or an operational rule.
Related terms
A legally binding instruction from a regulator requiring an inspection, repair or modification on a type. Unlike a recommendation, compliance is mandatory.
The investigating authority has published its concluding report, with findings, causes and safety recommendations. This is the authoritative account.
The authority's formal statement of what caused the accident. The exact wording matters, and the archive quotes it rather than paraphrasing it.