Safety - Articles and news items
Issue 3 2010 / 9 June 2010 / Brendan Booth, CANSO Safety Manager
Safety is always the first priority of an ANSP, but increasingly there has been a shift in recent years away from safety as the sole concern of an ANSP. Airlines are focusing more on efficiency – both on the ground and in the air – and even safety itself is coming under the scrutiny of cost/benefit analysis.
In many respects, this shift is an acknowledgment of the success of ANSPs in handling safety issues. Safety is never taken for granted, but it is understood that the procedures and technology in place are effective, and the public certainly seem to be happy with the safety of air traffic control, at least in most of the developed world. (more…)
Airport news / 24 March 2010 / International Air Transport Association
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced an industry strategy for profitable growth in Latin American aviation. “Profitable growth requires that all aviation stakeholders in Latin America—airlines, airports and infrastructure providers— work with a common vision to achieve our priorities: safety, security, cost reduction, environmental responsibility and liberalization,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO in the opening address of the Wings of Change conference in Santiago, Chile.
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Airport news / 23 March 2010 / Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority
Underscoring its commitment to passenger safety and security, Nashville International Airport received perfect marks during the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) annual air carrier airport certification inspection. (more…)
Issue 5 2009, Past issues / 29 September 2009 / Mike O'Brien, Director of Safety Audit Programmes, IATA
IATA’s Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) is gaining great momentum throughout the industry, and is closing in on its first milestone target – 100 audits – which is expected to be reached by early October. The growth in audit numbers is impressive, but what’s more important is the number of companies actively applying the ISAGO standards and preparing for an audit in due course.
ISAGO is designed for ground handling companies operating at airports. The aims of the programme are simple – improving operational safety, reducing ground damage and promoting audit efficiency. ISAGO audits are already being carried out worldwide, in locations as diverse as Harare, Hanoi, Hong Kong and Hurghadah. Twenty ground handling companies are already on the ISAGO registry, meaning that their corporate audit and at least one of their airport stations has been fully audited (the registry listing can be found at www.iata.org/isago).
ISAGO corporate audits, which focus on organisation and management systems, are carried out by the same audit organisations that IATA uses for IOSA audits. At the station level, where the audits are more numerous, IATA has formed a pool of auditors drawn from existing auditors in its member airlines that would normally be doing station audits for their own airline. To date, 38 IATA member airlines have joined the pool. (more…)
Issue 4 2009, Past issues / 16 July 2009 / Colin Wood, Director of Airside and Baggage Operations (BAA Heathrow)
Heathrow is the world’s busiest international airport, handling approximately 471,000 air traffic movements annually and employing over 72,000 people, of which a large number are airside workers. The scale and importance of ensuring efficiency among such a vast number of organisations is clear.
As the airport operator, Heathrow is taking an innovative approach in leading and uniting the airport community in best practice. Traditionally in airport management the operator takes a landlord type role, focusing more on compliance and placing little emphasis on managing ‘tenants’, while airlines often work in isolation from each other. However, Heathrow’s airside operations team is now leading a collaborative approach, engaging more than 400 companies operating airside at Heathrow. This means that rather than working separately, they are working together as a community to ensure safety and improved operational performance to make every journey better. (more…)
Issue 4 2009, Past issues / 16 July 2009 / Ray Elgy, Head of Aerodrome Standards, UK CAA
From the beginning of aviation history, aircraft have faced the hazard posed by birdstrikes. The first known birdstrike occurred in 19051, from the Wright Brothers diaries, “Orville … flew 4,751 metres in 4 minutes 45 seconds, four complete circles. Twice passed over fence into Beard’s cornfield. Chased flock of birds for two rounds and killed one which fell on top of the upper surface and after a time fell off when swinging a sharp curve.” This was the first reported bird-aircraft strike.
The first known fatality as a direct result of an aircraft-bird collision is said to be in 1912, when Calbraith Rodgers’ piloting a ‘Wright Pusher’ struck a gull, causing the aircraft to crash into the surf at Long Beach, California. The pilot was pinned under the wreckage and subsequently drowned.
The birdstrike hazard has become more severe as aircraft speed has increased, and this is because, although birds are relatively small in comparison to modern aircraft, the impact energy in collisions increases with the square of the relative impact speed. (more…)
Issue 4 2009, Past issues / 16 July 2009 / Goran Redzepovic, Eurocontrol Military Expert
Runway Safety is a vital component of aviation safety as a whole. The predicted growth in air traffic implies that the actual numbers of incidents may rise, unless held in check by preventive actions such as those recommended in the European Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions (EAPPRI). Over recent years, there have been a number of runway incursions in the European region, which resulted in three actual collisions, with a significant loss of life. The actual EAPPRI was approved by EUROCONTROL’s Provisional Council in April 2003.
Airports are key nodes of the aviation network, and airport capacity is a main challenge to future air traffic growth1. The number of slot-controlled airports has grown constantly over the last 10 years. Airport capacity is indeed becoming the limiting factor in overall system performance.
Central to the EAPPRI recommendations is the uniform and consistent application of ICAO provisions. The recommendations are generic, and it is for the national organisation responsible to decide upon specific implementation where joint-use aerodrome operations take place. The current EAPPRI recommendations are applicable where military aircraft operate as general air traffic. (more…)
Issue 5 2008, Past issues / 30 September 2008 / Mike O'Brien, Director Programme Implementation/Auditing, International Air Transport Association (IATA)
IATA’s Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) is now operational. The first 10 audits are now completed and 50 plus more are in the pipeline to end 2008. It is clear that IATA have created something that the industry needs and values. (more…)
Issue 3 2008, Past issues / 30 May 2008 / Mrs Nicole Barrette-Sabourin, Project Manager for Language Proficiency Requirements, ICAO
On 5 March 2008, new ICAO language proficiency requirements came into effect for pilots and air traffic controllers involved in international flight operations. They deal with the ability to speak and understand the language used for radiotelephony communications at Operational Level 4. At the ICAO Assembly in September 2007, a number of ICAO Member States indicated that they would be ready to implement the new regulations while others said they would require more time to ensure full compliance. This timely progress report reviews the evolution of the new language proficiency regulations and the guidance provided by ICAO to facilitate the process. (more…)
Issue 6 2007, Past issues / 30 November 2007 / Roberto Kobeh González, President of the Council, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
Airlines and airports, through their respective international organisations, play a crucial role in the activities of ICAO, whose chief aims, as contained in Article 44 of the Chicago Convention, are to develop the principles and techniques of international air navigation and to foster the planning and development of international air transport so as to, amongst other things: (more…)
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