ATM safety reporting maturing – risk assessment still to be improved

In its 2013 annual safety report, EUROCONTROL’s Safety Regulation Commission (SRC) confirms that a record number of thirty-six Member States reported ATM-related occurrences.

Overall, average reporting in 2012 increased by 5% and this figure reflects the continued improvement in reporting maturity and the effectiveness of national safety data flows.

As was the case in previous years, the severity and risk assessment of occurrences continues to deteriorate: the number of occurrences which were not severity classified increased by more than 38% compared with the year before.

“States are encouraged to intensify their efforts to achieve full implementation of the European safety regulatory framework and to use Risk Analysis Tool (RAT) classification for both ATM ground and airborne incidents. They should give assign priority to implementing the European Action Plan for Airspace Infringement Risk Reduction,” observed Karsten Tilenda, the newly appointed Chairman of the SRC.

The SRC is still concerned about the shortage of resources available at national level to ensure the full reporting, investigation, storage and analysis of ATM safety occurrences.

“States need to make it possible to use state-of-the-art occurrence reporting and provide both investigation tools and skilled personnel to ensure the completeness and quality of safety data,” added Mr Tilenda.

“One of EUROCONTROL’s main priorities is to help National Supervisory Authorities ensure that they have access to the necessary resources and training to fulfill this important function,” he expanded.