EASA appoints consortium to study security measures on aviation safety

Following a call for tender, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has awarded a new contract for a research project to a consortium formed by CAA International (CAAi), APAVE Aeroservices and CASRA. The three-year project, the first of its kind, will examine the impact of aviation security measures on aviation safety and vice versa to ensure continued regulatory improvements to civilian air transportation.

Funded under Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-22, Cluster 8 Climate, Energy and Mobility, the project will deliver a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of security measures and security threats on safety across the aviation system. The project will identify specific areas where safety-security dependencies exist and opportunities to improve aviation safety-security regulatory standards.

The consortium, led by CAAi, includes a team of experts from the French aviation safety risk management specialists, Apave Aeroservices, and Swiss-based Center for Adaptive Security Research and Applications (CASRA). Over the next 36 months, the group will deliver four main tasks:

• Task 1: Identify the interdependencies between security and safety
• Task 2: Assessment of the impact of security measures on safety
• Task 3: Analysis of certification standards
• Task 4: Integrated risk management.

The first task will identify what aviation security measures affect safety and vice versa, and whether the effect is positive or negative. The same approach will be applied to job roles involving safety and security functions. The second task will examine the impact on areas and job roles that involve safety-security interdependencies. Task three will explore safety-security interdependencies in the context of certification standards, such as air operators and aerodromes, equipment and staff screening, and aircraft design standards. The project will conclude with a series of recommendations to improve regulatory safety and security integration and coordination, with a particular focus on risk management.

Speaking after the contract signing, Kevin Sawyer, Senior Manager of Aviation Security at CAAi, commented: “We are delighted to be working with EASA and our partners on this significant project that marks a momentous step in understanding aviation safety-security interdependencies. To date, civil aviation safety and security regulations have largely been developed independently of each other, with limited interaction between the two domains.”

“This project will give the global aviation community a full picture of the impact the two areas have on each other concerning regulation. The results will prove valuable for industry and aviation regulators, paving the way for potential safety-security regulatory improvements in the future.”

Adam Borkowski, Aviation Security and Intelligence expert at EASA and technical lead for the project, added: “This project is a first for the systemic assessment of inter-dependencies between safety and security in aviation. To build a complete picture of these dependencies, we look forward to exchange with Aviation Stakeholders at several steps during the project and its final results will be shared with them.”

The project commenced in October 2022 and is expected to complete in 2025.