European safety oversight: understaffed & inconsistentAchieving the highest possible level of safety in aviation is paramount and requires effective day-to-day safety oversight. Yet, national authorities, responsible by definition for safety oversight, find themselves in a difficult situation to perform their safety-related obligations with dwindling resources and, at times, decreasing competences.

Aircraft accident and incident incident investigation is just one piece that falls under the safety obligations of national CAAs, but the discrepancies in the two investigations on Ryanair’s fuel emergency landings carried out by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and the Spanish Aviation Authority (AESA), illustrated that there may be reasons for concern. With one report exonerating the carrier of flying with too little fuel, and the other claiming the first report was not based on a thorough investigation, things get bizarre.

The general rule is that safety oversight in aviation is a national responsibility. In Europe however, with the existence of a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) the situation is more complicated. The national authority is responsible for the oversight of its carriers certificated nationally. However, national authorities may agree to delegate oversight tasks to the authority(ies) where activities take place or to EASA. So companies with foreign bases could see oversight performed by different (national) authorities.

Safety experts in ICAO remind us that quality of safety oversight systems around the world varies significantly. According to Henry Gourdji from ICAO, 45% of all ICAO Member States lack basic safety oversight capabilities to certify their aviation service providers1. In May 2012, ICAO rang the alarm, pointing towards chronically under-resourced national aviation authorities, particularly in the European and North Atlantic regions. A similar concern has been voiced by Patrick Goudou, Executive Director of EASA in a News editorial in July 2012. “A key risk I see for the future of the aviation system is the conjunction of a difficult economic situation in the aviation industry with the reduction of staff in oversight organisations – both a consequence of the global financial crisis. The good safety records we enjoy cannot result in decreased vigilance or in questioning the resources needed by regulators and oversight authorities to fulfil their mission”, said Goudou.

Oversight performed by competent authorities is a key pillar to maintaining and improving the safety level in aviation. Specific cases, such as the Ryanair incident investigation, are a good opportunity to think about

Nico Voorbach, ECA President

Safe 2013!

First of all, I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy 2013! I hope this year will be one to be remembered in aviation history for the safety improvements that will be agreed in Europe and in the world. I therefore sincerely hope that the European Commission in coordination with EASA, the European Parliament and the European Council will take their responsibility and adapt the current proposal for Flight Time Limitations legislation in a safe and science-based manner. With a ‘Walkout for Safety’ on 22 January, pilots and cabin crew will remind European policy-makers – as well as the travelling public – that aircrew fatigue is too dangerous not to be properly addressed by the new rules.

Another safety improvement to be achieved in 2013 would be the respect and protection of the Captain’s authority. During the winter break a Dutch documentary showed four Ryanair pilots sharing their serious concerns about the company culture promoted by Ryanair management and blew the whistle on cost-cutting fuel policies. The pilots said they’d often feel that a fear culture within the company undermines their authority as Pilot in Command. This has serious implications for safety as the Captain needs to be able to take all necessary

the challenges authorities face, especially given the limited economic resources and with performance-based rules picking up speed. Under such a performance-based system it is even more important for national CAAs to have all necessary resources at hand to continuously check and safeguard the safety of air travel.

Save the date

22 Jan 2013: EU-wide walkout for safety

New EU Occurrence Reporting Regulation – A move to pro-actively prevent air accidentsEuropean pilots welcome the new Occurrence Reporting Regulation, presented in December by the European Commission, as an important step towards better, pro-active prevention of air accidents.

The new regulation icreates a comprehensive framework for improving the quality and completeness of occurrence data and for timely identification of safety hazards. It also provides for confidentiality of certain information, which will encourage safety professionals, including pilots, to report incidents and thereby ‘feed’ a forward-looking accident prevention system across Europe.

“This regulation was an absolute necessity for a more efficient European reporting system. It will shift the focus from a primarily ‘reactive’ system, where we tried to learn from accidents, to a pro-active risk- and evidence-based system”, said Nico Voorbach, ECA President. “This is excellent news, and Europe’s pilots will be keen to contribute to making this new system a success.”

“We used to learn many of our Safety lessons through investigating accidents. Since they are thankfully decreasing, we have to learn more from the smaller incidents. We encourage our pilots and all other aviation professionals to voluntarily report and share their mishaps, so we all can learn. This important regulation will create a stronger ‘Just Culture’ environment, in which safety incidents can be reported without fear of personal repercussions, even if it is seen as whistleblowing” added Burkhart Kaumanns, ECA Board Director for Technical Affairs. “The Commission has it right: for aviation safety, the facts, the ‘what’ and ‘why’, are infinitely much more important than the ‘who’.

The main objective of this new piece of legislation is to ensure that all occurrences which endanger or could endanger aviation safety are reported, properly collected and effectively analysed to provide a complete and clear picture of aviation safety risks in the EU and its Member States. It also aims at ensuring that all safety information, stored in the European Common Repository, is accessed adequately by appropriate authorities and used strictly for safety enhancement purposes.

safety decisions without pressure from management. The anonymous pilots’ testimonies further questioned Ryanair’s employment practices. A large chunk of pilots are not direct employees of Ryanair but contract workers employed through a broker agency. Ryanair has briefly responded calling the pilots’ claims “clearly false and baseless accusations”.

To make 2013 a landmark for safety in Europe, we need to improve how we organize safety oversight. In this issue of CN, you will read an article concerning the worrying situation of safety oversight in Europe today and the challenges faced by national Civil Aviation Authorities in performing their obligations.

Finally, 2013 will be looking at how to improve safety by learning through better and thorough reporting and investigation of accidents and incidents. The European Commission has made an important step towards better, pro-active prevention of air accidents with a new legislative proposal on occurrence reporting in civil aviation.

I wish you lots of happy and safe landings in this historically safe 2013!

The European Cockpit Association is the representative body of European Pilots’ Associations. Based in Brussels, ECA represents over 38.000 pilots from across Europe.

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