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Mobility and Transport
News article18 February 2021Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport

Aviation safety: Evaluation confirms continued relevance of EU rules on follow-up procedures following safety-related events in civil aviation

On 17 February 2021 the European Commission published its Staff Working Document on the evaluation of its Occurrence Reporting Regulation. The evaluation confirms the continued relevance of the Regulation for the reporting, analysis, and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation and found that it has contributed to the overall improvement of aviation safety in the European Union. .

An occurrence in civil aviation, within the context of the current Regulation, is a safety-related event which endangers or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person. The Regulation seeks to ensure that relevant safety information associated with such occurrences is reported, collected, stored, protected, exchanged, disseminated and analysed. It is of prime importance that front-line aviation professionals report occurrences that pose a significant risk to aviation safety.

To ensure such events are reported, the Regulation also provides rules on confidentiality, granting protection to those reporting events and mentioned in reports, under certain circumstances, and on the appropriate use of information.

The evaluation found that the Regulation has also contributed to the overall improvement of aviation safety in the European Union. In particular, it has increased reports of safety-related events, and improved the quality of the safety data extracted from the occurrence reports. The Regulation remains relevant as aviation evolves, taking also account the anticipated increase of unmanned aircraft (drone) traffic.

Nonetheless, the evaluation does highlight a number of areas and challenges where improvements are needed. These include the analysis and follow-up of occurrences at the national level, establishment of advanced arrangements between the competent and judicial authorities in the majority of the Member States, as well as designation of a ‘just culture body’ in some Member States to ensure full protection of the reporters in accordance with the Regulation.

Evaluation Report

Executive summary

Details

Publication date
18 February 2021
Author
Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport