A Eurocontrol safety workshop has called for more resources to be put into safety management and regulation if air traffic management (ATM) accident rates are not to rise in line with ATM capacity. Eurocontrol, which held a two-day workshop in Tallinn, Estonia, forecasts a doubling of traffic between now and 2020 and has identified eight areas where extra funds are required.
These are safety-related human resources in ATM; incident reporting and data sharing; airborne collision avoidance systems; ground-based safety nets; runways and runway safety; enforcement of Eurocontrol safety regulatory requirements and monitoring their implementation; awareness of safety matters and safety and human factors. The conference was held as a result of the Überlingen mid-air collision in July 2002, and was designed to promote best practices.
The European Strategic Safety Action Plan, a programme to raise safety standards in 41 European countries to agreed minima, will not reach its goal of a reduction in accident rates unless coupled with a rise in investment equal to the rate of traffic growth. "This workshop has underlined the importance of putting adequate resources into safety management and regulation," says Erik Merckx, Eurocontrol head of safety enhancement.
Source: Flight International
