Eurocontrol most concerned about lack of reporting culture in some member states
Air traffic management (ATM) safety in Europe has made “considerable progress” since the accidents at Milan Linate and Überlingen in 2001 and 2002, “but there is still much to be done”, says Eurocontrol.
The findings come from the first public report into ATM safety prepared by the Brussels-based agency, charged with monitoring the eight areas identified as needing urgent action following the accidents. The report, Monitoring the Safety of Europe’s Sky, defines the work done up to March 2005 under the Strategic Safety Action Plan developed after the accidents.
Eurocontrol is most concerned about the continuing lack of a safety-reporting culture in some members. It says that while states and service providers have made great strides towards implementing incident-reporting schemes, “the process is not comprehensive, and the quality of the safety data obtained varies significantly from state to state”. One reason is that states and service providers “remain concerned their safety-related performance might be unfavourably compared with others”.
Legal impediments to reporting, the lack of a “just culture” within states and a shortage of qualified and trained manpower all need to be addressed, says Eurocontrol. The agency adds, however, that the majority of states have at least established focal points for collecting safety data.
The report makes a worrying connection between some smaller states in which ATM safety development remains immature and the fact that they are experiencing by far the highest traffic growth – up to 40% in 2004, according to a Eurocontrol source.
“Since they already lag in implementing formal safety systems they will require more and special attention to catch up,” says the report. Eurocontrol says it is working with individual states to help implement safety measures. “They have varying needs, and we’re supporting them on a country by country basis,” it adds.
Eurocontrol admits that while serious runway incursions still occur, the number of risk-bearing incursions is decreasing. The number of runway incursion reports rose from 55 in 1999 to 543 in 2004, but the agency points out that the higher figure is largely due to improved data collection.
JULIAN MOXON/LONDON
Source: Flight International
