The Accident Investigation Board for Civil Aviation was established as a permanent organization on 1 January 1989, originally based at Oslo Airport, Fornebu.

[2] In exceptional cases the Norwegian government had the jurisdiction to appoint an ad hoc investigation board.

An ad hoc commission was established at the scene to investigate it, consisting of Chief of Police Alf Reksten, Sheriff Kaare Bredvik, the Norwegian Air Lines' technical director Bernt Balchen, Captain Eckhoff of the aviation authorities, and Gjermundson from the insurance company.

[7] Major accidents were thereby investigated by in-house commissions with the potential for conflicts of interest, or through ad hoc committees appointed by the government.

The ministry primarily stressed the mix of criminal and safety preventative as contrary to international law, as well as near-accidents being investigated by NATAM.

[6] One alternative proposal was to make the commission part of the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway,[9] although this never materialized as the latter was not created until later.

[5] The legal framework took effect on 1 January 1989, and the same day, the Accident Investigation Board for Civil Aviation (Havarikommisjonen for sivil luftfart) was established.

By June, the agency still did not have sufficient staff to handle all cases,[12] and in particular had not yet implemented human behavior and psychological expertise.

It simultaneously took the name Accident Investigation Board for Civil Aviation and Railways (Havarikommisjonen for sivil luftfart og jernbane, HSLB).

One advantage of the agency was that it could allow for protected testimonies, without these having to be subject to criminal investigation by the Norwegian Police Service.

[1] Meanwhile, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration established a group of regional offices to investigate other accidents and aggregate information from these.

[18] During this period, discussions also arose as to whether the board should investigate cases related to pipelines and accidents on oil platforms.

The prime reason was that the Institute of Maritime Enquiry was regarded as having insufficient competence to investigate major accidents.

Also, some concerns were that the system mixed the criminal prosecution and the safety investigation aspects, which could hinder a proper learning to take place from an accident.

Facing both legal and economic consequences, witnesses would often give testimonies of reduced accuracy, hindering proper investigation from a safety point of view.

In addition to the investigation aspect, which was issued to the board, the Maritime Authority established a division to work with strategic safety.

[19] In July 2019, the Norwegian government announced that the AIBN would merge with the Defense Accident Investigation Board Norway [no] (DAIBN) in 2020.

[23] The Accident Investigation Board Norway is a government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

In particular, the board can accept testimonies, which can remain anonymous and will under no circumstances be handed over to the police or prosecuting authorities.

[24] This includes all accidents with passenger ships and other large Norwegian vessels, in which people have or are assumed to have lost lives or been substantially injured.

AIBN may also investigate foreign ships in cases where Norwegian jurisdiction can be applied under international law.