The State Operational Safety Program

On January 23, the Government approved, at the initiative of the Ministry of Public Works, the State Operational Safety Programme (PESO) for Civil Aviation, thus responding to the recommendations made by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that advocate to base security management models on prevention-oriented systems through the participation of the main actors in the sector.

PESO will facilitate decision-making in the field of aviation safety, through the continuous analysis of the information provided by the main actors of the Spanish aviation sector, through an integrated management system. In this way, a joint vision of the entire Spanish civil aviation sector will be offered that will allow the identification and assessment of safety risks, and decisions to keep them under control.

The approved agreement defines the state policy on operational safety and details its objectives for each actor involved in the sector; in addition to appointing the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing as the body in charge of its promotion.

One of the substantive elements of the Programme is the dissemination of lessons learned in the field of safety. To this end, this Newsletter on the Preventive Approach has been designed. The objective is to publicise the preventive actions that are being carried out within the framework of the PESO and to inform possible areas of risk for the knowledge of all professionals and companies that carry out their activity in the aviation sector.

In this first edition of the Newsletter we will address the main concepts of the Preventive Approach. We hope they will be useful to you.

Preventive approach

Safety management involves implementing and developing what has been called a “preventive approach” to safety oversight. The preventive approach complements the traditional approach, based primarily on compliance and inspection. This new approach is based on performance, risk management and security assurance and is process-oriented rather than impact-oriented.

The Agency has recently approved a new internal instruction to fulfil its responsibilities in the area of PESO. According to this new instruction, it will be the staff of the Directorate of Security Assessment and Internal Technical Audit (DESATI) who first contact the companies in the sector to evaluate the risk mitigation actions undertaken by them.

Preventive Approach: Strategic Actions. Operational Safety Action Plan (PASO)

The Agency, in collaboration with suppliers and other public bodies, has drawn up, as set out in Article 25.2 of Royal Decree 995/2013 of 13 December 2013, the Operational Safety Action Plan (PASO) in order to achieve the operational safety objectives set out in the Programme. The Operational Safety Action Plan was adopted by Resolution of the Director of the Agency on 15 April 2015.

The Operational Safety Action Plan was adopted by Resolution of the Director of the Agency on 15

Safety objectives are twofold in nature: on the one hand, they reinforce the traditional prescriptive approach to safety management based on verification of compliance with regulatory provisions through inspections and audits (compliance), and on the other hand complement this approach with the current preventive approach to safety management (performance).

The preventive approach to safety management is aimed at identifying the areas of safety that are most of concern or requiring greater attention following an analysis of the available safety data and information. The STEP identifies a series of activities or actions, to control or mitigate the risks associated with identified areas as priorities.

The Unified Manual of the State Operational Safety Program for Civil Aviation is published on the AESA website.

Preventive Approach: Operational performances. Fair Culture Guide

In the SMS Study Group (Systems of Safety Management) under the Committee of Experts on Aircraft Safety, the need arose to develop a Guide on Fair Culture for use by the senior management of Spanish air operators.
The fair culture policy is a key enabler for the implementation of Safety Management Systems.

Fair culture policy is one of the elements of the safety policy, as set out in Appendix 2, 1.1.d of ICAO Annex 19, and therefore one is a key enabler for the implementation of Safety Management Systems:

‘The safety policy shall clearly indicate which types of behaviour are unacceptable with regard to the aviation activities of the service provider and shall include circumstances in which disciplinary measures could not be applied;’

This guide, called Fair Culture and published on the AESA website, contains the definition of fair culture and recommends how to implement it. Moreover, it proposes a methodology for making decisions about what behaviors are unacceptable. In addition, it includes the legislative framework in Spain, which establishes the principles governing the fair culture of the Spanish State.

Recommendations and good practices on landings and take-offs without authorisation

The document “Recommendations and good practices for the reduction of unauthorised landing and take-off events” has been published on the AESA website as a result of the working group set up in September 2013 at the request of the Committee of Experts on Air Navigation Safety (CESNA). This group arose from the concern of service providers to study and try to minimise unauthorised landings and take-offs. In this Working Group, pilots and air traffic controllers have participated through the associations that represent them.

Event Reporting System: Regulation 376/2014

Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the reporting, analysis and monitoring of occurrences in civil aviation repealing Directive 2003/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulations (EC) No 1321/2007 and (EC) No 1330/2007 applies from 15 November 2015.

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has carried out since its entry into force in 2014 different activities aimed at adapting to the new regulatory framework that culminated with the holding of a seminar on September 29, 2015 at the facilities of the Ministry of Public Works. The objective of the seminar, aimed at organisations in the sector obliged to establish notification systems by the Regulation, was to present the main developments and changes introduced by the Regulation in relation to the legislation in force so far and to clarify any doubts that may arise.

The material used in the seminar has been included in a broader guide that reviews the different points of the Regulation and tries to answer the questions that have been raised by the notifiers, grouping all the information into three main sections:

• General aspects of the Regulation
• Technical and detailed aspects of the Regulation
• Protection of information and its sources

Likewise, a triptych has been published that summarises the key points to take into account by potential notifiers:

• Why does the SNS improve operational safety?
• Why a new regulation?
• Protection
• The what and who should notify?
• Who is notified, how and when?
• Voluntary reporting system

Both the guide and the triptych are published under the section “Managing safety risks” below.

New Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on occurrence reporting in civil aviation.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1018 establishing a mandatory reporting classification list of occurrences in civil aviation.

The new Events Regulation shall apply, as provided for in Article 24 thereof, from 15 November 2015. In order to facilitate the adaptation of potential notifiers to the new legislative framework, AESA held a seminar on 29 September 2015 and prepared the following guide material:

• Guide material
• Information triptych SNS

FDM Forum (Flight Data Monitoring)

On October 29, 2015, the 6th Meeting of the FDM Forum, formed by AESA and the different Spanish commercial air transport companies that have this flight data monitoring system in their respective fleets, took place at AESA Headquarters.

This meeting discussed topics such as the evolution of the different groups of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) with FDM operators (EofDM), the convenience of developing an FDM protocol model to be subscribed between the company and its pilots and the evolution of GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System) and TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) alerts in the companies participating in the Forum.

In relation to the TCAS alerts, it was possible to demonstrate, by contrasting FDM and SNS data, the effectiveness of several measures developed in order to reduce the number of these alerts in Spanish airspace. Specifically, there has been a decrease in the rate of TCAS alerts for flights carried out between 2014-2015 of 23 % (FDM) and 30 % (SNS).

Measures taken include the publication on 24 July 2014 of Circular 8/14, which provided that evolving aircraft adjust their vertical speed when approaching an assigned altitude or flight level so that vertical speed is reduced to 1,500 feet per minute when approaching a vertical distance of 1,000 feet above or below the assigned altitude or flight level.

Guide to Good Practices in Phraseology and Communications

AESA, in accordance with the provisions of the X meeting of the Committee of Experts on Air Navigation Safety, has developed and published the Guide to Good Practices in Phraseology and Communications in order to present to the aviation sector a set of good practices and recommendations in the field of ground-to-air oral communications, which can serve as a basis for the development of future more specific campaigns within this field.

As reference material, both the European Action Plan for Air — Ground Comunication Safety and other documents drawn up from studies carried out by various organisations such as ICAO, EUROCONTROL, UK CAA or FSF have been used.

In addition, there has been the participation of active professionals in the commercial air transport sector (pilots) and the contributions made by various organisations represented by experts in the Committee of Experts on Air Navigation Safety.

The document is divided into 4 sections, according to the most widespread failures that occur, (radio discipline, confusion of indications, blocked transmissions and loss of communications), plus a chapter dedicated to communications in emergencies.

It should be noted that this document is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of recommendations, nor to replace any practice or method recommended by ICAO or national regulation, but to strengthen and supplement certain aspects that have been found to be weaker.

This guide, among others, is published in the section “Safety Risk Management” in the “Material Safety Management Systems Guide” group of the Policy /Recommendations/Guidelines/Information page.

Guide to Indicators Operational Safety Performance Applicable to Organisations Maintenance Part 145

On 30 July 2014, the Resolution of the State Aviation Safety Agency was published, laying down the requirements for the establishment of a mechanism equivalent to the safety management system by maintenance organisations.

One of the parts necessary to implement an equivalent mechanism applicable to maintenance organisations is to establish a set of safety performance indicators.

The purpose of this guidance material is to provide a list of examples of such safety performance indicators. This list is divided into two parts:

1. Safety performance indicators that shall at least be established by maintenance organisations. (Annex 1 to the Resolution of 30 July 2014 of the State Aviation Safety Agency.)
2. Safety performance indicators, by way of example, which maintenance organisations may use in addition to those already set out in the previous point. (Annex 2 to the Resolution of 30 July 2014 of the State Aviation Safety Agency.)

Its pages present a tab for each indicator, with its metric, the data source, as well as some comments.

This guide, among others, is published in the section “Safety Risk Management” in the “Material Safety Management Systems Guide” group of the Policy /Recommendations/Guidelines/Information page.

Recommendations and best practices to mitigate the possible inadequate separation between instrumental or visual outputs and frustrated approaches

The Air Traffic Incident Analysis and Study Commission (CEANITA) has analysed several incidents in which there has been an inadequate separation between an aircraft in approach that performs frustrated approach/disrupted landing and another that performs a standard or visual exit from the same runway.

As a result of the facts analysed by CEANITA in different air traffic incidents, recommendations and good practices are included in this document to reduce the number of incidents related to inadequate separation between an aircraft in instrumental exit (SID) or visual, and another that performs a frustrated approach/landing interrupted, following instrumental flight rules, as well as to mitigate the possible inadequate separation in cases where it occurs.

In the elaboration of these recommendations, in addition to experts from different AESA directorates, commercial air transport pilots and active air traffic controllers have collaborated.

This guide, among others, is published under the “Security Risk Management” section in the “Security Recommendations” group on the Directives/Recommendations/Guidelines/Information page.

Submitted to the Ministry of Development the Annual Report of PESO

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) sent on 29 June to the General Secretariat for Transport, for submission to the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing, the Annual Report on the degree of implementation and implementation of the State Operational Safety Programme (PESO) corresponding to the year 2015, thus complying with the provisions of Article 11.5 of Law 21/2003 on Air Safety. Subsequently, the Ministry of Public Works will forward the report to the competent committees of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.

The annual report deals with the degree of implementation and implementation of the State Operational Safety Programme for Civil Aviation and the level of compliance in the financial year 2015 with the objectives set in it. The status of the objectives, indicators, and targets presented in the report are based on the information collected by AESA from the responses provided by the different affected parties: public bodies linked by PESO and suppliers of aeronautical services and products.

This first PESO follow-up report compiles the most significant efforts made by the various actors linked to the Programme with the ultimate aim of achieving an increasingly secure civil aviation.

I ECCAIRS Software Users Forum

AESA celebrated last July 13rd the 1st ECCAIRS Software Users Forum, in order to promote the usefulness of this application in organisations that have decided to use this tool and achieve greater standardisation in the notification.

With the entry into force and application of Regulation 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation, different organisations requested to use ECCAIRS 5 software for the purpose of using this tool for the management of notifications.

The intention of AESA is to hold a meeting periodically where the community of user organisations in Spain can raise common doubts and difficulties, give information on the latest updates and trends, share solutions found, etc. In fact, so that there is a more continuous and fluid contact between organisations in Spain that use ECCAIRS, and as a reinforcement to the in-person forum, a virtual forum of ECCAIRS Spanish user organisations will also be created.

Operational techniques to prevent bird impact in general aviation

Within the framework of the preventive approach to safety and taking into account the latest events related to the impact of large birds with light aircraft, AESA has analysed and evaluated these types of events with the aim of making a series of recommendations that help prevent and mitigate them.

For this purpose it has developed a triptych that includes some preventive operational techniques for the navigation of light aircraft in an environment with possible presence of large gliding birds. This information is a collection of different sources, all of them of great prestige in the world of aviation.

The document is available on the AESA website at the following link: Link to document

The Event Reporting System reaches 100,000 events reported in Spain

On June 24, ECCAIRS was registered, which is the tool used in the European Union for the registration of event information, the 100,000th event in Spain. The Event Notification System (SNS) was established in 2005 by Royal Decree 1334/2005 of 14 November 2005. Its objective is none other than the prevention of future accidents and incidents, without the intention of determining faults or responsibilities, except in cases of intent or gross negligence.

Since 2006, the increase in the number of notifications has been permanent from 1,269 to 27,272 notifications in 2015, a figure that is expected to be exceeded also in this year 2016.

The collection of data on events in civil aviation is based on the notifications made by individuals and organisations that, in the exercise of their functions or activities, have knowledge of them, so the milestone is a success, not only of the whole team that works in the System, but of the entire Spanish aeronautics community.

AESA to organise Working Groups to Promote a Safety Culture in the Groundhandling Sector

Last December, AESA held an Operational Safety Forum in the ground assistance service in which airport managers and ground handling agents participated, with the aim of improving communication, knowledge and cooperation between the aeronautical authority, industry and airport managers.

For two days, joint strategies to be taken for the improvement of operational safety were discussed, how to make SMS a useful tool and that the different actors involved communicate and interact, since the involvement and coordination of all the actors involved is fundamental to achieve the objectives.

Within this forum, it was agreed to create a working group to define a format for reporting occurrences of ground assistance agents, which would be useful for all and in which it will be possible to analyse which events should be reported mandatory to AESA.

It was also agreed to create, together with airport managers, air operators, ground assistance agents, etc..., another working group for the definition of indicators that are useful and meet the premises defined in an operational safety management system.

The groundhandling event reporting working group has already been launched and met twice, in March and May. These two meetings focused mainly on three points:

• Agree between AESA and industry criteria to clarify mandatory reporting occurrences as defined in European Regulation No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1018 of 29 June 2015. As a result of the dialogue held in the group, consensus criteria were reached that have been published on the AESA website.
• Clarification of the available means of reporting to AESA’s Event Notification System. In this line, and in order to facilitate compliance with regulatory reporting requirements for this industry sector, AESA has been provided with a customised Excel notification template for groundhandling agents.
• Proposal for the definition of an outreach campaign to promote the reporting of occurrences in the field of groundhandling. As a result of this point, a competition has been launched for the creation of a poster with this objective that will be distributed by Spanish airports with the intention that it is placed in those places to which the personnel involved have access.

Publication in Spanish of the documents of the European Helicopter Safety Team (EHEST)

Different products produced by the EHEST group are available in Spanish on the AESA website. Launched in 2006, this group brings together manufacturers, operators, research organisations, regulators and some European military operators and is committed to contributing to the goal of reducing the accident rate and overall improving operational safety in Europe.

AESA collaborates with EASA and Airbus Helicopters in the Spanish translation of the products produced by the group to facilitate their promotion. The translated products, and available through the AESA website, are:

• He 1 - Security Criteria. Methods to improve the skills of helicopter pilots. Training brochure
• He 5 - Risk management of training. To the attention of pilots and instructors. Training brochure
• He 7 - Helicopter flight techniques in a rugged or mountainous region. To the attention of pilots and instructors. Training brochure
• He 8  - The Principles of Threat and Error Management (TEM) for helicopter pilots and instructors and training organisations. For pilots and helicopter instructors. Training brochure
• HE9  - Management of automation and flight path. For pilots and helicopter instructors. Training brochure
• He 10  - Instruction and Testing on Training Flight Simulation Devices (FSTDs). For pilots, instructors and helicopter examiners. Training brochure

AESA publishes recommendations to minimise risk in interrupted landings

The State Aviation Safety Agency has published a document setting out recommendations and best practices to minimise risks in interrupted landings. Following the identification by the Air Traffic Incident Analysis and Study Group (CEANITA) of the manoeuvre to be carried out by a pilot in the event of an interrupted landing as a potentially dangerous and not sufficiently regulated situation, a working group was set up with the participation of AESA personnel, pilots and air traffic controllers.

Any contingency that unexpectedly causes a sudden interruption of the final sequence of the landing manoeuvre at any point on the flight path below the minimum obstacle clearance altitude published for the approach in question ‘OCA/H’ and up to the beginning of the interrupted landing surface, which requires an engine and air manoeuvre, is understood as interrupted landing.

The recommendations and best practices identified by this group to minimise the risk of this type of manoeuvre have been incorporated in a document that has been published on the AESA website and which can be found at the following link: Security Recommendation RECS-2016/001

AESA signs the European agreement of the Safeclouds Consortium for the improvement of aviation safety

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has signed together with fifteen other European bodies the Safeclouds Consortium Agreement, a project to develop data analysis solutions to provide new capabilities to the various aviation agents involved with the aim of improving safety.

SafeClouds is the latest safety-focused project awarded by the European Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 programme and brings together a consortium combining airlines, air navigation service providers, authorities and research institutions.

Leveraging the combination of the skills of the different team members, the project will contemplate new ways of processing a large amount of data to identify security hotspots, provide predictive analysis of various security events, and support authorities to have a deeper understanding of the different levels of security.

SafeClouds will cover a wide range of technologies, seeking to manage and merge data from a variety of sources and configure specific storage and computing architectures. SafeClouds will also develop specific technologies to ensure that data analysis can be performed while maintaining data confidentiality, exploring secure computing techniques that allow “blind benchmarking” market comparisons across the industry.

The SafeClouds consortium is coordinated by the Innaxis research institute and in addition to AESA is composed of: Fraunhofer ITWM, TADOREA Innovation, CRIDA - ATM Research, Development and Innovation Reference Centre, LFV - Luftfartsverket, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Pegasus Airlines, Iberia, Air Europa, Vueling, Delft University of Technology, Münich Technical University, Linköping University, EUROCONTROL and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

SafeClouds technologies will be delivered and rolled out progressively over the next few years. Commitment to other research and technological innovation programs will help to effectively and impactful deployment of the various solutions. For more information you can visit www.SafeClouds.eu

Published the Joint Annual Report of the AESA and CEANITA Event Report for 2015

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has published the Joint Annual Report of the AESA Event Notification System (SNS) and the Panel on Study and Analysis of Notifications of Air Traffic Incidents (CEANITA) for 2015.

The purpose of the SNS is to receive, collect, store, classify, operate and analyse all notifications received in the system in accordance with the applicable rules set out in Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the reporting of occurrences in civil aviation. It thus contributes to the improvement of aviation safety, ensuring that its sole objective is the prevention of future accidents and incidents, without the aim of identifying faults or responsibilities and that relevant event information is treated with due confidentiality.

CEANITA, Interministerial Collegiate Body whose operating rules are established in Order PRE/697/2012 of 2 April, aims to provide advice and collaboration to the State Aviation Safety Agency and the Air Force Staff of the Ministry of Defence for the prevention of air traffic incidents and accidents. To this end, CEANITA studies and analyses these incidents and, where appropriate, proposes safety recommendations, thus contributing to the improvement of air navigation safety.

The purpose of this report is to present, on the one hand, a statistical exploitation carried out by the AESA Success Notification System (SNS) from the notifications received during 2015, through which you can obtain:

• objective statistical measures reflecting the state and evolution of civil aviation events, incidents and accidents in Spain during the period considered,
• information that will allow the identification of deviations or trends that may compromise the safety of operations, thus favoring the implementation of actions aimed at their mitigation; and
•  assessment of the effect of actions from previous studies or exercises through comparative analyses.

On the other hand, this report contains a summary of the activity of CEANITA corresponding to the study of those Air Traffic Incidents (ITA) that occurred during 2015 that have been analysed by this body, due to the associated risk assessment carried out by DESATI.

This report also complies with the requirement set out in Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation, which obliges Member States of the European Union to publish, at least once a year, a report to the public on the level of civil aviation safety.

Workshop on the implementation of the European Air Operations Regulation

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) in collaboration with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) organised a Workshop on November 21, in the Event Hall of the Centre for Applied Techniques Studies of CEDEX (Center for Study and Experimentation of Public Works) on the implementation of the European Regulation in Air Operations (Air Ops Regulation (EU) 965/2012).

The objective of the same was to deal with the issues, doubts or questions raised in the implementation of the regulations, seeking to be an interactive workshop where commercial aviation of fixed wing and helicopters and the authorities had the opportunity to exchange views.

The workshop was dedicated to flight time limitations (ORO.FTL), fuel policy (CAT.OP) and crew training (ORO.FC), also taking the opportunity to report new regulatory developments by EASA.

Day on storms and their impact on air transport and navigation

On November 17, the day on storms and their impact on transport and air navigation was held jointly organised by AEMET (State Meteorology Agency), APROCTA (Professional Association of Air Traffic Controllers) and COPAC (Official College of Commercial Aviation Pilots) in the event hall of AEMET headquarters in Madrid.

Storms are one of the weather events with the greatest impact on safety and efficiency in air transport. The conference, attended by a hundred people, mostly professionals from the air sector from different organisations, highlighted the need to review the protocols of action, as well as to establish new procedures for the exchange of information in case of severe adverse weather.

Flight Safety Day at the Centennial of the Four Wind Air Base Officers Pavilion

On Saturday, October 29, the Flight Safety Day took place within the events of the Centennial of the Officers Pavilion of the Four Wind Air Base. The day was organised by the Four Wind Air Base belonging to the Air Force, it was aimed mainly at sports aviation and its main objective was to contribute to an improvement of the safety culture in this area.

The conference included interventions from various institutions related to aviation safety such as the Commission of Inquiry into Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents (CIAIAC), the System of Notification of Events of the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), ENAIRE and the Air Forces, as well as individual speakers.

Participation in the Mathin Workshop organised by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT)

The Head of the Data Analysis Service of AESA participated, on October 28, as a speaker in the "Workshop of Mathematical Solutions for the Industry: Success stories and perspectives" (mathin) organised by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT).

The objective of the Workshop is to promote the transfer of mathematical technology to companies and institutions while showing the most advanced technological solutions for each industrial sector.

The participation of AESA consisted of the presentation of the risk management methodology for the safety of civil aviation RIMAS, developed within the framework of a collaboration agreement between the Royal Academy of Sciences and AESA, and its integration into the State Operational Safety Program.

New edition of the ECCAIRS Software User Forum

AESA celebrated on October 19 the second edition of the forum of ECCAIRS user organisations in Spain, which aims to promote the usefulness of this application in organisations that have decided to use this tool and achieve greater standardisation in the notification.

In this edition, exhibitions related mainly to the use of advanced ECCAIRS tools were made:

• use of templates for automated reporting,
• batch processing tools,
•  use of auxiliary databases for recommendations and registrations,
• data capture tool in Excel.

Likewise, the electronic support of the forum was launched, by creating within the section of the Forums of the Electronic Headquarters of the State Aviation Safety Agency, a new thread to support this forum and create a more agile means of exchange of information among the participants.

Course of investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation at the General Council of the Judiciary

Within the framework of the Program of Continuing Training of the Judicial Career for 2016, the course on Investigation and Prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation (EX1624) was held in Madrid on 17 and 18 October 2016.

This course is part of the “previous agreements” signed between the CIAIAC and the Administration of Justice, pursuant to Article 12(3) of Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation.

The training activity itself was part of the program of Continuing Training of the Judicial Career this year, within the planning of the Judicial School of the General Council of the Judiciary. The Director of DESATI, Pablo Hernández-Coronado Quintero, participated as Rapporteur, in the presentation entitled: “The importance of the protection of safety information and its sources in the framework of the preventive approach to aviation safety oversight”.

Other speakers of the course were:

• Mr Rafael Mozo Muelas, Vocal of the General Council of the Judiciary.
• MS. María Jesús Guerrero Lebrón, Professor of Commercial Law at the Pablo de Olavide University (Sevilla). Commission of Inquiry into Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents (CIAIAC).
• Mr Juan Javier Pérez Pérez, Judge of Instruction No. 11 of Madrid.
• Mr Nicomedes Expósito Márquez, Chief Commander of the Identification Department. Criminal Service of the Civil Guard.
• MS. Ana Rosa Curra Rojo, Judge of the Criminal Court 15 of Seville.
• Mr Manuel Moix Blázquez, Prosecutor of the Supreme Court.
• Mr Jorge Valero Rodríguez, Secretary of the Commission of Inquiry into Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents (CIAIAC).

The course closed with a visit to Adolfo Suárez Airport, Madrid-Barajas CGA (Airport Management Center), Department of Aeronautical Safety.

The participants in the training activity, judges and prosecutors, valued very positively the development of the same, and the objectives set were widely exceeded

Published the Annual Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents (CIAIAC)

On the website of the Commission of Inquiry into Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents, www.ciaiac.es, is, since September 13, available to all Internet users, a digital copy of the report of the activities that this body, member of the State Operational Safety Program, carried out throughout 2015

It is the Ministry of Development itself, which, every year, after receiving the report of the president of the CIAIAC, is responsible for giving it the timely dissemination, in particular, by transferring it to the Committees of Development of the Congress and the Senate.

Participation in the II Operational Safety Conferences organised by the Airport Services Directorate of IBERIA

The AESA Event Notification System (SNS) participated, on November 23, in the II Operational Safety Conferences organised by the Directorate of Airport Services of IBERIA. These conferences have a double institutional and operational aspect, since they had the presence of both the Heads of National Scale and Managers of the Directorate of Airport Services and the Heads of Operational Safety of the company at airports.

A number of topics related to Operational Safety were addressed, such as the importance of groundhandling occurrence reporting, human factors, or various internal communication and safety initiatives within the safety or maintenance management system.

New General and Sports Aviation Working Group

At the plenary session of the Committee of Experts on Aircraft Safety, the creation of a General Aviation and Sports Working Group was unanimously approved on 3 December 2015.

The main objectives of the group are:

• Its participation in the regulatory development affecting non-EASA aircraft (ULM, amateur and historical).
• The establishment and maintenance of media between the sector and AESA.
• The development of guidance and information material related to the sector.
• Boosting the applicable actions of both the PASO and the Eurocontrol Plan in relation to airspace infringements.

The group consists of a group of experts in the field of reference and of staff of AESA

• AESA: Initial and continuous airworthiness.
• AESA: Operations and training.
• Royal Spanish Aeronautical Federation (RFAE).
• AOPA-Spain (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association).
• Spanish Association of Light Aircraft Pilots (AEPAL).
• Real Aero Club of Spain (RACE).
• Infante de Orleans Foundation (FIO).
• CIAIAC.

This group met in June, October and December of this year with the main objective of developing new regulations in this sector. The draft airworthiness part and the licensing and training part with excellent collaboration from the participating associations have been submitted for comment.

Safety recommendations and compilation of good practices for general aviation users

Within the framework of the preventive approach to safety, AESA has developed a trilogy of triptychs dedicated to general aviation with the aim of disseminating useful information and a series of recommendations that can help users to know the main dangers of this type of aviation and avoid the occurrence of safety events.

 The trilogy consists of the following documents:

• Recommendations to prevent impacts with birds: this triptych has been reissued to be part of the trilogy dedicated to safety recommendations and good practices in general aviation.
• Operational recommendations in air traffic.
• Recommendations on training, maintenance and operation 

The documents are available on the AESA website at the following link, in the Information section:

Directives, Recommendations, Guides, and Information

Referral to the Cortes de la Memoria del PESO 2016

The Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing, the higher body responsible for promoting the State Operational Safety Program (PESO), has sent the Secretary of State for Relations with the Courts, the annual report on the degree of implementation and implementation of the Programme for 2016.

The provisions of Article 11.5 of Law 21/2003 on Air Safety have been complied with, which stipulates that in the first half of each year, the State Aviation Safety Agency shall submit to the Secretary of State for Transport an annual report of PESO and that, subsequently, the Ministry of Public Works shall forward this report to the competent committees of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.

The annual report deals with the degree of implementation and implementation of the State Operational Safety Programme for Civil Aviation and the level of compliance in the financial year 2016 with the objectives set in it. The status of the objectives, indicators, and targets presented in the report are based on the information collected by AESA from the responses provided by the different affected parties: public bodies linked by PESO and suppliers of aeronautical services and products.

Pablo Hernández-Coronado new president of ICAO’s Operational Safety Panel

The Director of the Directorate of Safety Assessment and Internal Technical Audit of AESA, Pablo Hernández-Coronado Quintero, has been appointed Chairman of the Operational Safety Panel of ICAO (SMP-Safety Management Panel). The election took place during the third general meeting of this expert group, which was held at ICAO headquarters in Montreal from 13 to 16 June.

On 28 May 2010, the ICAO Council adopted Recommendation 2/5, (a), (1) of the High-Level Conference on Security (HLSC 2010), which recommended that ICAO, in close cooperation with States and national and international organisations, develop a new Annex dedicated to the processes and responsibilities of States in relation to safety management.

Thus, on March 15, 2011, the Air Navigation Commission (ANC) agreed to establish the Panel to provide the necessary recommendations in the elaboration of the new Annex, Annex 19, whose purpose, as mentioned above, is to help States manage aviation safety risks. Due to the increasing complexity of the global air transport system and the interrelationship of its aviation activities necessary to ensure the safe operation of aircraft, the Annex supports the continued evolution of a preventive strategy to improve safety performance.

In order to highlight the importance of the Annex in the field of aviation, and therefore of the work carried out by the Panel, it should be noted that the previous ICAO Annex that entered into force, Annex 18, which regulates the safe transport of dangerous goods by air, did so in 1983, being applicable from January 1984. That is, 30 years have passed until the publication and entry into force in 2013 of a new ICAO Annex, the first edition of Annex 19.

AESA and the sector agree to collaborate in the development of the National Aviation and Fauna Programme

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), under the Ministry of Public Works, held on June 8 the 1st National Aviation and Fauna Forum, in which the sector’s commitment to jointly elaborate the development of the National Aviation and Fauna Program was reached.

The objective of this forum has been achieved, once an agreement has been reached to work together and develop a joint strategy for the entire sector concerned and that will make it possible to reconcile the development of aviation with the environment, in particular with birds, with safety being the main priority.

The Agency, aware of the need to implement joint actions, has promoted the holding of this First National Forum of Aviation and Fauna, whose main intention was to promote the relationship and coordination between the actors involved and interested in the risk generated by the fauna - mainly birds - in aviation, so that all contribute, as far as possible, to the reduction of that risk.

Throughout the day, technicians of the Agency spoke explaining among other issues the “analysis of wildlife risk” and the importance of the “reporting of occurrences in fauna”. In addition, representatives of AENA, Enaire, the Air Army, the Official College of Pilots (COPAC), the Association of Air Companies (ALA), the Association of Spanish Air Transport Companies (ACETA), the Spanish Association of Light Aircraft Pilots (AEPAL), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment, and the University of Lleida, explained the management and control of fauna in its various areas of action.

In this first edition, due to the transversality of the topic, in addition to airport managers, air navigation service providers, airlines, pilots, aviation associations, AESA invited representatives from other areas such as the Autonomous Communities, municipalities, authorities of the air army, environment, etc.

Publication of good practices for towed retreats at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport

The AESA Airport Inspections Division (DIA) aims, beyond the inspection function, to promote awareness and good practices in operational safety, providing the airport industry as a reference and support in those matters in the field of civil aviation.

As part of this work, the triptych of Good Practices for towed recoils has been developed at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, which is mainly aimed at improving coordination and precise and fluid communication between the different actors in the towed recoil maneuvers; companies, groundhandling agents and platform management service provider, among others.

The triptych was published in May on the AESA website and sent to the airport manager for dissemination to different stakeholders.  You can find yourself by clicking here.

Vertical speed restraints when performing traffic separation by ascent/descent regimes

AESA has published a series of recommendations and guide material with the aim of clarifying the operation of action and establishing a single criterion regarding the validity of vertical speed restrictions when performing traffic separation by ascent/descent regimes.

These recommendations have been addressed to air traffic control service providers and air operators after differing interpretations of Articles 4.2.22.1.6 and 4.9.4.2.6.2.5 of the Air Traffic Regulation have been detected that had contributed to the occurrence of air traffic incidents.

The document with the recommendations and best practices has been published on the AESA website and can be consulted by clicking here.

Fair Culture Day in ATM

ENAIRE, in collaboration with APROCTA (Professional Association of Air Traffic Controllers), EUROCONTROL and IFACTA (International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations) organised a conference on Fair Culture in Barcelona last May. Under the title of “Fair Culture: you wanted to know everything about Fair Culture and you did not dare to ask” in this day were treated from different perspectives Fair Culture in the field of ATM: What is it? What ain't it?

The day featured the presence and intervention of professionals from the judicial field (judges and prosecutors), and the fit of Fair Culture in the European and Spanish judicial system was explained.

Working day at Madrid-Barajas airport Adolfo Suárez to prevent incidents of blows of wing tip and tail tip of aircraft

On April 3 rd, the meeting of a working group, organised by AESA, took place at the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez airport on incidents and accidents of blows of wing tip and tail tip of aircraft. The main objective of this working day was the analysis of this type of incidents at runway waiting points both in Spain and in the rest of Europe in order to establish the contributing factors and mitigating measures to reduce the prevention of hits between an AC1 aircraft stopped at a waiting point and another AC2 aircraft that rolls down a taxiway behind AC1.

The working group focused on identifying the causes that could motivate the crew to stop the AC1 aircraft at a distance from the standby signal or, in the case of AC2, to continue its trajectory when there are doubts as to whether the safety margin is sufficient.

The seminar was conducted by personnel of the Division of Airport Inspections (DIA) and was attended by AENA, ENAIRE and SAERCO, as well as representatives of the main airlines, and staff of the DIA itself and the Coordination of the Safety Assessment of AESA.

Safety recommendation for aircraft fleet SA226/SA227

On March 23, AESA issued the Safety Recommendation “Operational analysis of the pitch trim actuator of the aircraft fleet SA226/SA227” (RECS-2017/002/1.0). As a result of the risks associated with events or clusters of events collected, the Event Notification System (SNS) has implemented an analysis process in relation to the operation of the pitch trim system in the SA226/SA227 aircraft fleet, in order to obtain the corrective/preventive measures necessary for the improvement of safety based on failure monitoring/reliability of the system, as set out in M.A.202, M.A.403 and M.A.403 of Annex I Part M to Regulation 1321/2014.

Following the analysis process initiated by the SNS in collaboration with affected operators, the investigation of the failure of the actuator by the holder of the type certificate (M7 Aerospace) is currently under way, in coordination with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration of the USA). In addition, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has been informed of the analysis carried out by AESA and of the investigation of the type-certificate holder in order to lead the research at European level. The conclusions of these studies could result in an update of the recommendations of this document.

This recommendation can be found in the following document on the AESA website: RECs-2017-002_security_actuator_pta_metros.pdf

AESA explains in France the implementation of the PESO in our country

In February, staff of the Directorate of Safety Assessment and Internal Technical Audit of AESA explained in the National School of French Civil Aviation (ENAC), in the context of the activities of the Advanced Master on Safety Management in Aviation, the process of implementation of the State Operational Safety Program (PESO) and the firm commitment of our country to achieve a high level of safety in civil aviation.

The presence of the Agency was a request from the Gala Civil Aviation Authority, after visiting AESA to learn about the different risk prioritisation methodologies developed by the AESA Safety Assessment Coordination, some of which has been included as an example in the EASA document “Practices for risk-based oversight”.

Operational safety workshop

On 19 and 20 January 2017, a workshop on safety was held at Madrid Barajas Adolfo Suárez airport organised by ENAIRE-AENA - IATA - EVAIR (EUROCONTROL), with the participation of air navigation service providers, pilot associations, companies, airport managers and AESA.

The first day focused on the problem of non-compliance with speed restrictions during the approach by pilots and possible causes, as well as the violation of airspace by drones, especially in the approach phase.

The second day focused on the analysis of cases of collisions on the ground within the manoeuvring area due to a poor position at the waiting point (tail blows - wing tip between aircraft) or a wrong maneuver in the push-back maneuvers on the platform.

During the second day Ryanair presented the mitigation plan that it has implemented in its fleet to improve situational awareness in cases of runway incursions and Barajas airport presented the plan to improve horizontal signalling in the area of movement.

Risk mitigating measures in autogiro operation

Last January, a series of risk mitigating measures in the operation with autotours were published on the AESA website to disseminate among the users of this type of aircraft, pending the publication of an Airworthiness Directive whose objective is to increase the safety of the operation in terms of load factor and speed of this type of aircraft.

You can access this information by clicking here.

In the development of this Directive, AESA and the manufacturers of this type of aircraft are working in coordination.

Publication of the Operational Safety Action Plan

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has approved the Operational Safety Action Plan (PASO) 2017-2019, through Resolution of Director Isabel Maestre, whose purpose is to achieve the maximum development of the State Operational Safety Program (PESO) for Civil Aviation, with the aim of strengthening aviation safety.

The PASO has been prepared by the Agency in collaboration with the suppliers and the other public bodies involved, in order to achieve the safety objectives set out in the PESO. The plan describes the activities of the public bodies responsible for the supervision and control of operational safety as well as the suppliers of aeronautical services and products and of the other public bodies that are part of the PESO, aimed at improving safety in those areas that are identified as priorities.

The approval of the PASO demonstrates Spain’s commitment to the continuous improvement of safety in air transport. In this sense, our country has voluntarily acceded to the European Aviation Safety Plan (EPAS), despite the fact that the current Community legislation does not require this.

The Civil Aviation Operational Safety Action Plan 2017-2019 can be found at this link.

Publication of the Annual Report of the Event Notification System and CEANITA (Commission for the Study and Analysis of Notifications of Air Traffic Incidents)

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has published the Joint Annual Report of the AESA Event Notification System (SNS) and the Committee on Study and Analysis of Notifications of Air Traffic Incidents (CEANITA) for 2016.

The purpose of the SNS is to receive, collect, store, classify, operate and analyse all notifications received in the system in accordance with the applicable rules set out in Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the reporting of occurrences in civil aviation. It thus contributes to the improvement of aviation safety, ensuring that its sole objective is the prevention of future accidents and incidents, without the aim of identifying faults or responsibilities and that relevant event information is treated with due confidentiality.

CEANITA, Interministerial Collegiate Body whose operating rules are established in Order PRE/697/2012 of 2 April, aims to provide advice and collaboration to the State Aviation Safety Agency and the Air Force Staff of the Ministry of Defence for the prevention of air traffic incidents and accidents. To this end, CEANITA studies and analyses these incidents and, where appropriate, proposes safety recommendations, thus contributing to the improvement of air navigation safety.

The purpose of this report is to present, on the one hand, a statistical exploitation carried out by the AESA Success Notification System (SNS) from the notifications received during 2015, through which you can obtain:

• objective statistical measures reflecting the state and evolution of civil aviation events, incidents and accidents in Spain during the period considered,
• information that will allow the identification of deviations or trends that may compromise the safety of operations, thus favoring the implementation of actions aimed at their mitigation; and
• assessment of the effect of actions from previous studies or exercises through comparative analyses.

On the other hand, this report contains a summary of the activity of CEANITA corresponding to the study of those Air Traffic Incidents (ITA) that occurred during 2016 that have been analysed by this body, due to the associated risk assessment carried out by DESATI.

This report also complies with the requirement set out in Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation, which obliges Member States of the European Union to publish, at least once a year, a report to the public on the level of civil aviation safety.

The publication can be accessed through this link.

AESA publishes its risk prioritisation methodologies

AESA, as a safety supervisory authority, exercises its powers through a mixed surveillance and control system. The traditional prescriptive approach, based mainly on compliance and field inspection and audit, and impact-oriented, is complemented by a preventive approach based on performance, aviation safety and safety risk management, and process-oriented approach

This mixed system is structured around the State Operational Safety Program (PESO) and encompasses different tools. These tools include risk prioritisation methodologies in different areas where the Agency has supervisory responsibility.

These methodologies are AESA’s own development and are constantly evolving.

The Agency has published methodologies for commercial air transport, air work and air traffic services (ATS) supervision in Spanish. They can be accessed through the following links:

• Safety assessment methodologies

The objective is to establish the prioritisation of the inspection actions, indicating possible additional actions to those that were initially planned, as well as the reallocation of necessary resources. On the other hand, they facilitate the identification of areas subject to supervision, providing useful information to the inspection units for the development of their inspection tasks.

Promotion of safety culture

AESA, among its initiatives to promote operational safety, is promoting the safety culture of air operators, as part of the action plan, linked to the State Aviation Safety Program, and therefore located at the highest level.

The safety culture model, adopted by AESA, draws on the experience of high-reliability organisations and ATM service providers (air traffic management systems). This approach establishes relationships between human contribution and the safety management system.

The first step will be the edition of a White Paper on Safety Culture for Air Operators, which is scheduled to be published in the first half of 2018.

Holding of the National Land Assistance Forum

On December 14, the II National Land Assistance Forum was held with the aim of improving operational safety through the collaboration of all actors involved. For the event, promoted by the State Aviation Safety Agency, the following objectives were established:

• Establish a framework for cooperation between AESA and industry (groundhandling agents and airport managers), for greater communication and mutual knowledge.
• The participation of AESA as a reference and support for improvement in operational safety.
• The promotion of improved operational safety in the provision of groundhandling services.

The main airport operators, air operators and groundhandling agents participated in the event, as well as members of the Association of Land Assistance Services Companies (ASEATA) and the Spanish Association of Aviation Psychology (AEPA).

Throughout the morning there were several presentations in which AESA presented the balance of actions of the First Forum held in 2015, the international regulatory proposals on groundhandling services highlighting the initiatives and participation of the Spanish state both at European and international level, the new operating framework in the development of inspections with electronic administration and the evolution of notifications of events related to ground assistance. AEPA made a presentation on the Human Factors related to Earth Assistance activities.

In the afternoon, working groups were organised in order to identify from the point of view of Operational Security the possible threats and weaknesses in the sector’s own operation, analyse why and how they affect it and find strategies to manage them.

The objective of this day has been to know, from the hands of the sector, the issues that affect them the most or concern them in terms of safety. The conclusions and the rest of the documentation related to the day will be published on the AESA website.

Election of members of the Steering Board of ECCAIRS (European Centre for the Coordination of Accident and Incident Reporting Systems)

The Head of Safety Reporting Service of the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), Héctor Pedroche Alarcón, has been re-elected for a three-year term as a member of the European Commission’s ECCAIRS Steering Board. The election took place during the 20th meeting of the ECCAIRS Steering Committee of the European Commission, held in Brussels on 17 November 2017.

Héctor Pedroche Alarcón has been a member of the group since its creation in 2014 and throughout this time has been actively involved in its mission to guide and support the development of ECCAIRS with the aim of improving aviation safety and meeting the objectives of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation, and Article 18(5) of Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation.

ECCAIRS (European Centre for the Coordination of Accident and Incident Reporting Systems) is a cooperative network of European Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA) and Security Investigation Authorities (SIA). The project is managed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) at the request of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) and in close cooperation with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

AESA Issues ‘Good Practice’ Recommendations to Prevent Shocks Between Aircraft

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has developed a ‘Wingtip Clearance’ Good Practice Guide for Aircraft Shock Prevention for Airport Suppliers, TWR Suppliers and Air Carriers.

In recent years there have been several collisions or quasi collisions between aircraft in taxi, one of them being stopped at a waiting point and the other rolling along the adjacent taxiways, therefore, the Airport Inspection Division of AESA formed a working group with the Spanish airport sector composed of safety and operations managers of AENA, ENAIRE, of the main airport managers, TWR suppliers, pilots, controllers of TWR and the Professional Association of Air Controllers (APROCTA).

The objective of the group has been to identify the causes and contributing factors to finally issue a series of recommendations aimed at the prevention of this type of collision, which AESA has published through an information brochure.

The Good Practices recommended to airport managers focus on the installation of BP elevated lamps in the margins of the TWY oriented towards the cockpit; extend the signal and lighting of the PE including the margins of the TWY to make them look better; as well as avoiding, in the design of taxiing streets, entrances to the track at angles other than 90 degrees.

TWR providers recommend providing extra information to pilots on board, either through frequency or by means of signs installed at the point; and to airlines that avoid being located very far from the PEP since it can affect other streets and, in case of doubts about the distances to pass safely, the aircraft must be stopped.

Triptych Good Practices Shock prevention between aircraft “Wingtip Clearance” 

European Action Plan for the prevention of runway incursions

The third edition of the European Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions (EAPPRI), in which the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has actively collaborated, including safety recommendations for all actors involved, is now available on the Agency’s website.

The recommendations of this document are addressed to airports, airlines, controllers, and national supervisory authorities and AESA has been actively involved in the drafting of this new version of the document led by EUROCONTROL together with other European authorities such as the British CAA and the French DGAC.

AESA’s role has focused in particular on the area of recommendations of airports, in particular, the Agency has led the drafting of two appendices of guide material relating to airport recommendations: Appendix J “Use of aeronautical ground lighting that protects the runway” and Appendix L “Maintenance, inspections, works in progress/temporary modifications of the aerodrome”.

AESA’s work has only just begun with publication; from now on, an important effort will have to be made to disseminate and disseminate its implementation through collaboration with the Spanish Aeronautical sector such as the Local Committees on Track Safety, National Forums, Working Groups, etc.

Download European Action Plan

Closure of the 2017 firefighting campaign

AESA and COPAC organised last November, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Works, a day aimed at taking stock of operational safety during firefighting activities in 2017.

In addition to the organisers, the Commission of Inquiry into Civil Aviation Accidents and Incidents (CIAIAC) of the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and the Environment (MAPAMA), the Air Army (EA), the Military Emergency Unit (UME), responsible for firefighting units of several Autonomous Communities (Galicia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Valencia, Catalonia), and representatives of the industry including various air operators, participated in the presentations or attended the debate.

Among the proposed new lines of work and areas with the possibility of development were the organisation and logistics of the operations referring especially to the human factor, the unification of specifications in the specifications for the competitions for the provision of air extinguishing services, the air control of extinction operations, the standardisation of air operating procedures (with emphasis on radio communications), the coordination of efforts between different organisations during the fires (autonomic, state, military, international,...), the possibility of implementing technological innovation assistants, the personal and professional situation of a part of the crew and maintenance personnel who only have salary income during the months of the campaigns (resulting in a permanent flight of talent and experience to other aviation sectors), systems and procedures for locating crashed aircraft, etc.

Along with those described above, the problem of the transfer of personnel and means from the usual bases and work areas to the big fires was central in the debate, with which this leads to:  orographic difficulty, no beaconing of sectors of entry and exit to the fire and in the operations at low level to drink water or refuel, peaks of accumulation of many local and foreign means at specific points (carousels of discharge, waiting, and positioning flights, and in small aerodromes, refueling areas, water points) operating with different procedures, without air control, and in different radio frequencies. In summary, during the day these and other issues were discussed, and possible measures were discussed that could be undertaken to influence preventively with the aim of preventing accidents and incidents and improving efficiency in the extinction of forest fires.

Participation of AESA in different international fora in relation to operational safety

The State Aviation Safety Agency has participated, through the Director of Safety Assessment and Internal Technical Audit, in different international forums in which operational safety issues were discussed:

• IATA Aviation Data Symposium 2017 held in Miami in November. It exposed AESA’s experience both in the development of its own methodologies and tools and in its participation in European projects such as Data4Safey or SafeClouds.
• Regional Safety Management Symposium organised by OACI (International Civil Aviation Organisation) in Tallinn, Estonia from 16 to 17 October 2017. Specifically, AESA’s involvement focused on the interaction between state safety programs (SSPs) and safety management systems (SMS) of service providers.

Day of presentation of the roadmap for the regulation of European general aviation

The day was organised by AESA and the Real Aero Club of Spain (RACE) at the Madrid airfield of Cuatro Vientos on September 30, and responsible for the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) participated.

The presentation of the day was given by the Director of AESA, Isabel Maestre Moreno, and the Director General of ENAIRE, Ángel Luis Arias.

In 2014, the European Aviation Safety Agency committed to the general aviation sector to devote its efforts to creating a general aviation regulation that is better, simpler and easier to apply, from the recognition that the current standard extends commercial aviation concepts to general aviation that are not proportional to the risk that general aviation entails.

Thus, EASA together with the European Commission and the participation of other stakeholders in the sector have launched the so-called “Road Map for Regulation of General Aviation” to meet EASA’s six commitments to the sector.

On the other hand, during the presentation of the day the sector was reminded of the importance of notification of occurrences in the field of general aviation and a triptych was presented which aims precisely to promote notification in the general aviation and sports sector. It can be accessed through this link.

AESA publishes the European Agency’s General Aviation Safety Promotion Brochures in Spanish

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has translated into Spanish and published the ten leaflets promoting safety in General Aviation prepared by the European General Aviation Safety Team (EGAST), with the aim of providing the necessary information and promoting safety in this aviation sector.

On the AESA website you can find these brochures that are intended to provide guidance to pilots of non-complex aircraft. The promotion of safety is one of the objectives of AESA and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The brochures available are:

• Ice Formation in Flight
• FIS-In-Flight Information Service
• Loss of control due to loss and auger
• Safe use of air navigation technology
• Impact with Birds, a common risk with local particularities
• Ice Formation in Piston Engines
• Flight near high ground
• Weather forecast
• Decision-making
• Collision prevention

AESA sends to the Secretary of State the report of PESO 2017

Article 11.5 of Law 21/2003 on Air Safety provides that, in the first half of each year, the State Aviation Safety Agency shall submit to the Secretary of State for Transport an annual report of PESO and that, subsequently, the Ministry of Public Works shall forward this report to the competent committees of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.

In compliance with the provisions of the Law, AESA has sent to the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Housing, the higher body responsible for promoting the State Operational Safety Program (PESO), the annual report on the degree of implementation and implementation of the Programme for 2017.

The annual report deals with the degree of implementation and implementation of the State Operational Safety Programme for Civil Aviation and the level of compliance in the financial year 2016 with the objectives set in it. The status of the objectives, indicators, and targets presented in the report are based on the information collected by AESA from the responses provided by the different affected parties: public bodies linked by PESO and suppliers of aeronautical services and products.

Publication of the Event Analysis and Monitoring Guide (Follow-up)

Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on occurrence reporting in civil aviation lays down for organisations, in its Article 13, the requirement to develop a procedure for analysing occurrences in order to determine the associated safety risks. Following the above-mentioned analysis, organisations should identify appropriate measures to address security deficiencies, implement them in a timely manner and establish a process for monitoring implementation and effectiveness.

In order to clarify, on the part of AESA, the acceptable way of complying with the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 in relation to the analysis and monitoring of events (Follow-Up) efficiently defining guidelines with which the analyses and monitoring of the same should be developed, the “Follow-Up” Guide has been developed for the organisations in the sector, which can be downloaded at the following link:

g_ces_sns_01e_guia_follow_up.pdf

Complimentary English translations of AESA general aviation triptychs

AESA has made a courtesy translation into English of its different triptychs aimed at the general aviation sector. The objective is to achieve even greater dissemination of these compilations of good practices and safety recommendations to help users to know the main dangers of this type of aviation and try to minimise the occurrence of events in this field.

The documents available on the AESA website are:

• Recommendations to prevent impacts with birds. Recommendations for avoiding bird strikes (courtesy translation).
• Operational recommendations in air traffic. Operational Air Traffic recommendation (courtesy translation).
• Recommendations in training, maintenance and operation. Training, maintenance and operational recommendations (courtesy translation).
• Notification in general and sports aviation. Occupation Reporting System General and Sports Aviation (courtesy translation).

They can be found at the following link:

Directives-material-guide-information

Publication of new safety assessment methodologies for AESA

Following the publication last year of methodologies for commercial air transport, air work and air traffic services (ATS) supervision, AESA has also published the safety assessment methodologies of Air Navigation-CNS and airports, both the Spanish version.

You can find the following links to the AESA website:

methods-and-tools-of-assessment-of-security

The Agency published the safety management system guidance material

The Agency published the safety management system guidance material

The objective of the Guide is to present and clarify the conceptual foundations of the processes to be established by an operator to implement its SMS, its constituent elements, and its underlying activities, without specifying more than in global terms how elements and activities are to be established. In other words, the Guide is not prescriptive. For example, the Guide conceptually develops the activities underlying “hazard identification processes” and provides examples, but does not prescribe a method such as the most appropriate method for identifying hazards. The reason is threefold. On the one hand, the availability of the highly prescriptive OACI Safety Management Manual (Doc. 9859) meets this need. Second, methods that are useful for one operator may not be useful for others. Third and perhaps most importantly, AESA considers that there is abundant knowledge, experience and relative state of maturity among Spanish operators so as not to need an “abc” of the implementation of SMS. The perspective of AESA is that the current need is the clarification of aspects and unification of criteria, the most complete assessment of which is decisive in the success of the implementation of SMS by an operator. This Guide essentially points to the latter.

This guide material is available on the AESA website and you can consult it at the following newsletters-information-of-weight-guides or download directly through the link to_dea_gsms_01.pdf

Meeting of the General Aviation and Sport Working Group

On 14 June the meeting of the General Aviation and Sport Working Group was held in AESA, which serves as a common forum between the different associations of the general and sports aviation sector and the supervisory authority, so that the concerns and challenges of the sector can be shared.

Representatives of the Association of Experimental Aviation (AAE), the Spanish Association of Light Aircraft Pilots (AEPAL), the Association of Pilots and Aircraft Owners (AOPA), the Official College of Commercial Aviation Pilots (COPAC), the Infante de Orleans Foundation (FIO), the Royal Aero Club of Spain (RACE) and the Royal Spanish Aero Federation (RFAE), as well as representatives of AESA, attended this call.

During the meeting, the new licensing procedures for maintenance personnel and national maintenance centres were presented as a way to adapt the regulations to this sector. On the other hand, the standard modifications and repairs forms contained in CS-STAN were submitted as part of the AESA roadmap to make General and Sports Aviation requirements more flexible. The new section of General Aviation was also presented on the AESA website, in which, among other things, you can find a help document with all the regulations applicable to ultra-light structure aircraft and amateur construction aircraft. To conclude the meeting, AESA presented the “Tryptic of Recommendations to Prevent and Mitigate Airspace Infringements” recently published on the AESA website.

Publication of the triptych “Recommendations to prevent and mitigate airspace violations”

In May the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) issued a series of recommendations to prevent and mitigate airspace violations. The information leaflet is intended for general aviation users, air operators and air navigation providers, with the aim of reducing the number of incidents in this field of aviation.

These recommendations are part of the safety promotion activities of the State Operational Safety Programme (PESO), with airspace violations being one of the priority areas of operational safety identified in the Operational Safety Action Plan (PASO).

The information brochure is available on the AESA website and can be downloaded by all interested persons.

triptico_recommendations_infractions_space_air.pdf

Information day on safety and airspace violations at Sabadell airport

The air navigation service provider FerroNATS organised last June a “Operational Safety Meeting and the Disclosure Day of Airspace Infringements” at Sabadell Airport with the aim of dealing with different operational and security aspects. AESA participated in the event with a presentation on airspace violations.

The day was especially focused on pilots who regularly operate at Sabadell airport including, in addition, instructors and students from the pilot schools of Sabadell Airport.

Air Space Infractions are one of the priority areas of the Operational Safety Action Plan (PASO). For this reason, staff of AESA’s Safety Assessment Coordination, as part of its safety promotion activities, participated with a presentation showing the evolution data of this area at national and local level during the last years and presenting examples of incidents of greater severity.

It also took advantage of the day for the presentation of the triptych “Recommendations to prevent and mitigate airspace infringements” published by the Agency and is available on its website. Information material on this topic was also disseminated by EASA and Eurocontrol.

Fair Culture Days

On May 10th and 11st, the “Jornadas sobre Cultura Justa” was held for the second consecutive year. Judicial and Aviation World. The conferences were organised by APROCTA (Professional Association of Air Traffic Controllers), in collaboration with Eurocontrol, IFATCA and with the support of Enaire. The agenda of the conference combined theoretical sessions and discussion tables with the presentation of real case studies. The conferences and round tables were given by judges, prosecutors and staff of legal and safety departments of Eurocontrol, ENAIRE, IFATCA and AESA among others. On behalf of AESA, the Head of Security Reporting Service participated with a conference.

Reissue of the triptych “Recommendations on training, maintenance and operation” for general aviation

The triptych “Recommendations on Training, Maintenance and Operation” for general aviation has been reissued to incorporate new safety recommendations.

The main objective of the reissue is to insist on the need to:

• Keep in mind the maximum certified weight of the aircraft and consider whether one or two persons are flying on board, as well as the amount of fuel and luggage.
• Receive updated information (engine and aircraft) by subscribing to a communication channel with the manufacturer.
• Know and train emergency procedures to know how to deal with this type of situation in case they occur.

The new edition can be found at the following link:

triptico_aesa-recommendations_avicion_general-training_and_maintenance.pdf

AESA hosting the EASA Workshop on the implementation of the new regulation of air navigation services

Last April, the State Aviation Safety Agency organised a workshop on the implementation of the new Regulation (EU) 2017/373 in collaboration with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), addressing the key aspects that must ensure the implementation of the new regulation in the European provision of air navigation services from 2 January 2020.

The new regulation introduces significant developments, both for National Supervisory Authorities and for service providers. These include changes in the areas of human factors, the processes of analysis and mitigation of risks to changes in the air navigation system and the training and qualification requirements of personnel providing air navigation services. Many other aspects have been addressed in the two discussion sessions following the formal presentations of each of the invited organisations highlighting the high participation and high technical level of the discussions.

The workshop included the participation of the main actors in the sector, including the different service providers: ENAIRE, AEMET, FERRONATS, SAERCO and INECO-, as well as AENA - airport manager - and ANSMET - National Meteorological Supervision Authority and the Directorate-General for Civil Aviation.

The European Agency published the 2018-2022 Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS)

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published last March the European Aviation Safety Plan 2018-2022 (EPAS), which also includes the Agency’s regulatory programme. The Plan is a key component of the European Aviation Safety Programme and provides a coherent and transparent framework for safety work at European level, helping to identify the main safety risks and defining the actions to be taken. The national plan (PASO) is drawn up taking into account the European plan.

Collaboration of AESA with the French National School of Civil Aviation (ENAC)

For the second consecutive year, AESA explained in the National School of French Civil Aviation (ENAC), in the context of the activities of the Advanced Master on Safety Management in Aviation, the process of implementation of the State Operational Safety Program (PESO) and the firm commitment of our country to achieve a high level of operational safety in civil aviation.

The presence of the Agency was a request of the Civil Aviation Authority gala, after the good criticism received the previous year, in which, among other things, the different risk prioritisation methodologies developed by the Coordination of Safety Assessment of AESA, some of which have been included as an example in the EASA document “Practices for risk-based oversight”.

AESA Safety Assessment Report 2017

Until the publication of this report, AESA had been disclosing information from the activity of the Event Reporting System, CEANITA, PESO newsletters, recommendations, directives and safety information on its website and will continue to do so. But there was a lack of an integrative document reflecting the overall picture of the aviation safety situation in the civil aviation system in Spain. There was also a lack of a document of an informative nature that could reach the entire aeronautical community and that could be interpreted by the general public.

This is the gap that is now intended to be covered with this new 2017 security memory format. Knowing where we are in security matters, knowing our greatest risks and reporting on what we are doing to control them. Sharing, disseminating and joining wills, with the idea of progressing and, ultimately, improving security. This is the primary objective and raison d’être of AESA.

The 2017 security memory can be found at the following link:

security-evaluation-memories

CEANITA Memory 2017

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has published the Annual Report of the Commission for the Study and Analysis of Notifications of Air Transit Incidents (CEANITA) for the year 2017.

CEANITA, an interministerial collegiate body whose operating rules are laid down in Order PRE/697/2012 of 2 April 2012, aims to provide advice and collaboration to the State Aviation Safety Agency and the Air Force General Staff of the Ministry of Defence for the prevention of air traffic incidents and accidents. To this end, CEANITA studies and analyses such incidents and, where appropriate, proposes safety recommendations, thereby contributing to the improvement of air navigation safety.

This report contains a summary of the activity of the CEANITA corresponding to the study of those Air Transit Incidents (ITA) that occurred in 2017 that have been analysed by this body, due to the assessment of the associated risk carried out by desati. In addition to the Commission’s activity, the statistical analyses carried out on the basis of the available data and the resulting actions are included. The CEANITA plenary made 333 recommendations related to the 103 incidents analysed for the year 2017.

The document is accessible via the following link:

memory_security_aerea_2017.pdf

AESA publishes an informative triptych on hazards associated with ballistic parachutes during recovery of crashed aircraft debris

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has developed this informative triptych, within the framework of the preventive approach, due to the identified risk of serious injury during the recovery operations of crashed aircraft equipped with a ballistic parachute system.

This information is aimed at pilots, general aviation users, security forces personnel, local police, health emergencies, rescue and firefighters. It aims to warn of the danger to personnel who come to the scene of an accident to help victims.

The triptych is available at the following link:

triptico_aesa_parachutes_balisticos.pdf

AESA publishes a new version of the safety recommendation “Recommendations and Good Practices to mitigate the possible inappropriate separation between instrumental or visual outputs and frustrated approaches”

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has updated recommendations and best practices to mitigate the possible inappropriate separation between instrumental or visual departures and frustrated approaches.

You can find the following link on the AESA website:

Directives-material-guide-information

This new version includes a recommendation for air operators recalling the importance of maintaining radio silence on Local’s frequency while operating with single runway and high traffic demand.

This follows recommendation Rec038/18_02 issued by the Commission for the Study and Analysis of Notifications of Air Transit Incidents (CEANITA) following the study of file number 038/18.

Update of information relating to the SNS (System for Reporting of Events) in the AIP Spain

Through document ENR1-15 of AIP (Aeronautical Information Publication) Spain, the updating of the set of motivations, procedures and rules for the reporting of civil aviation occurrences in Spain was activated with effect from 6 December 2018.

This document is the result of the adaptation for airports, air control, and, as a whole, of the entire airspace of national sovereignty, of the most current international standards in the field of occurrence reporting, including European and state regulations.

The publication, the result of the collaboration between Enaire and AESA, has an approach aimed at achieving greater dissemination and harmonisation among the different reporting cultures of the different groups that make up the aeronautics community.

The document includes several guides to facilitate the criteria for reporting civil aviation occurrences, and the fact that it is a bilingual Spanish-English document, undoubtedly facilitates its dissemination worldwide, in the hope that, through an analysis of reported events leading to the implementation of better prevention measures, all this will lead to safer skies.

Day to promote safety culture among AESA-approved Training Organisations (ATOs)

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) held on 22 November a day dedicated to the promotion of safety culture among training organisations approved by AESA (ATOs), in a commitment to the preventive approach.

The event, in which representatives from more than 30 organisations participated, provided an opportunity for participants to exchange experiences and concerns that could serve as a basis for close and continuous collaboration and for improved security.

The aim was to raise awareness of the importance of the preventive approach and to show the methodology of risk prioritisation. AESA has long developed the preventive approach within the field of safety in order to complement the traditional prescriptive approach based on regulation, inspections and audits. The preventive approach aims to identify the areas with the highest risk of civil aviation security, with a view to concentrating resources on those requiring more attention; thus anticipating undesirable situations, thus avoiding serious incidents and accidents. To achieve this, the collaboration of all is necessary and ATOs play an important role in raising awareness of this safety culture.

The second axis on which the day turned was the Success Reporting System (SNS), and in particular, the culture of notification. The SNS is one of the main sources for the collection of safety data in the context of the State Security Programme and the preventive approach. This system receives, stores, operates and analyses civil aviation occurrence reports.

AESA explained to the ATOs that train future professionals that the SNS is geared towards the prevention of future accidents and incidents, without seeking at any time faults or responsibilities in the reported occurrences, with the only exceptions of wilful or gross negligence. The collection of data on occurrences in civil aviation is based on reports made by individuals and organisations who, in the exercise of their functions or activities, are aware of them, i.e. the system does not operate without the active participation of all the persons involved in the various civil aviation organisations, hence the importance of everyone engaging and acquiring a safety culture.

In addition, the attending organisations contributed their vision and experience in relation to the risk management they make through the presentation by FTE Jerez. The main message was that while regulatory requirements are common to all schools, each must adapt the different processes and tools that best suit their particular situation.

The Agency and the ATOs reviewed the various safety factors considered relevant to operational safety in training organisations, such as the importance of clear procedures in line with the regulations, the documentary culture, the importance of training of trainers, the heterogeneity of fleets or the rotation of staff. Consideration of all these aspects is essential to ensure effective training of pilots who will serve in the aviation sector. The conclusion was that, although much has been achieved, much remains to be done, given the leading role that aeronautical lessons must play in aviation.

AESA and IATA to share safety information

On 14 November, the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to share safety information.

The aim is to provide a framework for cooperation between the two bodies and to establish efficient communication procedures to identify the most relevant safety information in their possession for the improvement of risk reduction activities.

Proactive mitigation of security events requires the analysis of multiple and interrelated sources of information and, as both agencies collect critical safety information, the information they can exchange has the potential to provide a clearer perspective on existing and emerging risk areas and to conduct appropriate security enhancement interventions.

For the effective implementation of this Memorandum a coordination group is created and will meet when necessary. Ownership of the security information exchanged shall remain vested with the contributing party. Under no circumstances shall the mere possession of Security information be construed as the transfer of intellectual property rights.

The parties shall take steps, if necessary, to ensure the appropriate confidentiality of the information received pursuant to this Memorandum, in fact, undertake to treat in the strictest confidentiality and not use confidential information in any other way than for the purpose for which they were delivered.

First meeting of the Working Group for Large Planners

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) held last October the first meeting of the Working Group for Large Planner Birds, which focused on vultures and in particular the problems of Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport and Bilbao Airport, and at which the Fauna Map was presented in detail.

This was the first time that in addition to the sector, Aena airport manager, air navigation service providers, Ministry of the Environment, academic experts in the field participated, as well as the municipalities and autonomous communities concerned, in particular the City of Bilbao, the Diputación de Vizcaya, and the Autonomous Communities of Madrid and Castilla y León.

AESA presented in detail to the sector the Interactive Fauna Map which provides accurate information on the wildlife likely to affect air operations at each certified airport, as well as attraction spots and mitigation measures.

AESA has drawn up this Fauna Map with the aim of providing information on wildlife to airlines, airport managers, air navigation service providers, private pilots and all users of aviation in general, as with the increasing air traffic, as well as the increased presence of birds associated with human activities, they make the risk of impact of birds with aircraft, although controlled, a constant concern in the world of aviation.

At this meeting agreement was reached to work on the standardisation of the information handled by each Autonomous Community that is relevant to this issue, as well as on the realisation of a common project on the marking of birds.

Publication of hard landing recommendations

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) issued in October a series of recommendations aimed at improving operational safety with the intention of reducing landings where Bounced-Landings, Tail-Strikes and Hard-Landings occur.

The recommendations aim to reduce this type of landings through the reduction of destabilised approaches as a precursor to these events.  In addition, recommendations are also made to avoid, as far as possible, that an aircraft is incorrectly dispatched after having undergone a Hard-Landing without proper maintenance inspection, thereby avoiding the consequent risk to operational safety.

The recommendation can be found here:

recs_2018_002.pdf

AESA recommends that air carriers take into account OACI guidance to improve the identification and reporting of air quality events in cabins

Last September, AESA issued a recommendation for airlines to keep in mind ICAO guidance on “Guidelines on educational, instructional and reporting practices related to emanation incidents”, in which the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has been intimately involved, including detailed guidance material for the identification and reporting of such occurrences.

The Spanish Agency, in parallel to the large-scale project being developed by the European Commission “Research of the air quality level in the cabin of large transport aircraft and its health implications”, has carried out an analysis of air quality events in the cabin of pressurised aircraft of commercial air transport aircraft with MTOW > 5.800 kg to conclude whether or not additional measures or alternatives to existing ones are necessary.

Pending the outcome of the European project, all interested people can download the report prepared by AESA that supports this recommendation and is available on our website:

recs_2018_001_10.pdf

AEMET advances in the study and monitoring of shear

Last September was held a day on wind shear and the E-AMDAR program organised by AENA and the State Meteorology Agency (AEMET). The conference was attended by experts from the aeronautical sector, both national and international, and discussed the prediction of this meteorological phenomenon and its affect to the world of aviation.

Among the various presentations made, the program E-AMDAR (Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay), which allows the obtaining of wind and temperature data from aircraft in flight, which has proved to be of great use to improve predictions of meteorological phenomena from high resolution models. Additional information on the objectives of the E-AMDAR programme can be found on the AEMET website.

One of the main conclusions of the day was the importance of monitoring with the support of technology in the prediction of phenomenon. The information obtained is processed and transmitted to the pilots, providing them with more information for their operation in the aerodrome environment, and thus greater safety in take-off and approach manoeuvres.

RAT agreement between ENAIRE and AESA

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) and ENAIRE signed on 3 August a Protocol on the exchange of information on risk classification of occurrences between ENAIRE and AESA.

The main purpose of this Protocol is to define the content and procedure for the exchange of information regarding the risk classification of occurrences analysed by AESA and ENAIRE so that ENAIRE includes in the occurrence information transmitted to AESA, among others, the results of Ground and Overall severity obtained from the RAT analysis of the events recorded by its Safety Management Systems between 2017 and 2019.

In addition to this objective, the protocol establishes both the mechanisms to resolve possible discrepancies that may exist between the analyses of HTM incidents carried out by ENAIRE and those carried out by AESA or CEANITA and the appropriate channels for exchanging information.

COVID-19 crisis

No newsletter can be launched on safety issues in 2020 without starting with a reference to the COVID-19 crisis and the tremendous impact it has had on aviation.

All stakeholders, public bodies and service providers, authorities and industry, have had to adapt to unprecedented circumstances.

Various measures have been needed to help the aviation sector to alleviate the difficult situation we are experiencing and which has led to the limitation of mobility and work activity.

In particular, the measures taken by AESA can be found at this link.

Information/recommendations/measures/guidelines related to COVID-19 from the main organisations can also be accessed via their websites:

• EASA
  https://www.easa.europa.eu/the-agency/coronavirus-covid-19
• OACI
  https://www.icao.int/safety/SafetyManagement/Pages/COVID-19-Safety-Risk-Management.aspx

On the other hand, it is also important to highlight the important role played by the air sector during the pandemic, with repatriation flights on the one hand, and, on the other hand, cargo operations that have allowed the supply of both sanitary equipment and other goods.

AESA forwards the 2019 PESO report to the Secretariat of State

As every year during the first semester, the Agency has complied with Article 11.5 of Law 21/2003 on Aviation Safety and has submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda the annual report of the State Operational Safety Programme (PESO).

The report summarises the degree of implementation and implementation of the Programme during 2019 and is based on the information collected by AESA from the responses provided by the various parties concerned: public bodies linked by the PESO and suppliers of aeronautical services and products.

The degree of implementation of the actions planned under the Programme has been high, with 82 % of the actions envisaged in the Programme being completed, above the 75 % target originally defined.

As a novelty, this year, the Agency proposes the revision of the Programme. The Council of Ministers of 23 January 2015 set a maximum of four years to review the Programme and should therefore have been revised in 2019. The entry into force of the update of the applicable international standards for safety management (Amendment 1 to Annex 19 to the International Convention on Civil Aviation) in November 2019, as well as the evaluation of the OACI Programme carried out in the same month, advised to delay its review to incorporate both the latest applicable standards and the recommendations resulting from that evaluation.

OACI outcome to the PESO assessment and validation mission

During the first half of 2020, Spain received the final report of the evaluation of the State Operational Safety Programme (PESO) that OACI carried out to us in November 2019. In the report, OACI highlights the achievements made by Spain, as well as to communicate the opportunities for improvement that it has identified in the implementation of the PESO. In the light of this report, the good work carried out by Spain in implementing the Programme is confirmed.

In addition, at the request of Spain and taking advantage of the OACI visit, the audit team carried out a validation activity in which it reviewed the progress made by the State in answering 20 Protocol Questions (PQS). Following the evaluation, OACI increased our EI (Effective Implementation) implementation rate, bringing it to 91.20 %, which meant improving our relative position vis-à-vis other signatory states.

Participation in key international safety management forums

During this semester, Spain has participated in the main forums dedicated to operational security. The COVID-19 crisis not only has not stopped the activity of the different working groups, but has increased by including in the agendas of the meetings different points to share best practices, recommendations and measures aimed at mitigating the impact on the sector. Thus, among others:

• The OACI Panel on Annex 19 Operational Safety Management held its 4th coordination meeting of its working groups in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 24 to 28 February. Since this meeting, working meetings of the various groups and sub-groups have continued throughout the semester.
• The EASA SM-TEB (Safety Management-Technical Body) group met telematically on June 17 including among the topics to address the management of safety in COVID times and the impact of the crisis.
• Both the Management Committee, the Technical Committee and the Working Group of Authorities of the European project D4S (Data4Safety) met this semester.
• During the semester, the Network of European Analysts (NoA) and its sub-working groups have held continuous meetings during this period. The main topics have been the assessment of safety risks due to COVID, the construction of safety indicators at European level and the implementation of the European Risk Classification Scheme (ERCS).
• Participated in the working group set up by the European Region Aviation System Planning Group (EASPG) to update the European Regional Aviation Safety Plan (EUR RASP) 2020-2022, aligning itself with the European Plan for Aviation Safety (EPAS). Therefore, for the Member States of the European Union, working on the implementation of the EPAS automatically involves also working on the implementation of the EUR RASP.
• The European Action Plan for Airspace Infringement Risk Reduction Working Group met telematically on 1 April to discuss the state of the current crisis and its impact on airspace infringements. In addition, all participants have continued to collaborate in updating the Action Plan during these months.

Launch of the first phrasing and communications campaign

On 26 February, the first phrasing and communications campaign was launched. The main objective of the campaign was to present the second edition of the guide on “Good practices in phraseology and communications” and to launch the first campaign, focused on these 3 messages selected for their greater impact on the risk of the air operation, both due to the severity and due to their probability or frequency of appearance:

• Correct use of collations and confirmations (read-back/hear-back).
• Effective transfer of situations requiring immediate action.
• Transmission speed.

Both the update of the guide and the campaigns are safety promotion actions foreseen in PASO 19-21.

The campaign lasted for 3 months, from 1 March to 31 May. Unfortunately, it has been interrupted by the COVID-19 health crisis and has been postponed.

The launch day of the campaign, organised by AESA at the premises of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, was attended by air operators, air navigation service providers, airport managers, pilot training schools, air controller training schools and professional associations of pilots and controllers.

In addition to material that can be disseminated from the Agency, industry and organisations are expected to produce the most appropriate outreach material for their operations, adapted to the size and complexity of their organisation.

ENAC Italy visit to get to know the PESO

On 12 February we received in Spain the visit of our Italian counterparts to learn about the implementation of the State Security Programme in Spain and to share our experience following OACI’s recent evaluation to the PESO at the end of 2019. 

The PESO at the French National Civil Aviation School (ENAC)

For the fourth consecutive year, staff of the Directorate for Security Assessment and Internal Technical Audit of AESA explained at the National School of French Civil Aviation (ENAC) the process of implementing the State Operational Safety Programme (PESO) and our country’s firm commitment to achieving a high level of operational safety in civil aviation.

The participation of AESA staff is a response to the invitation of staff from the French DGAC, in charge of the coordination of the State-level operational safety module of the Advanced Master on Safety Management in Aviation organised by ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile).

Students in this Advanced Master are from different countries of the world and most of them are personnel of the respective CAAs - aviation authorities - of these countries.

Expansion of the Operational Safety Indicators Portal

As part of the process of continuous improvement of the safety surveillance and oversight mechanisms being promoted by AESA, the scope of the Operational Safety Indicators Portal (PISO) has been extended to in-flight training schools and to non-commercial operations with complex motor-powered aircraft.

The Aviation Safety Indicators Programme is established within the framework of the State Operational Safety Programme, and arises from the need for the collection and analysis of safety data within the PESO, establishing a series of parameters whose measurement and analysis, together with other data, allows to know the operating status of the air transport system, thus allowing anticipating any degradation of the air transport system. There are currently three indicator portals: air Operators (PISO), airports (PISA) and air navigation service providers (pisna). Multiple information is collected within the different portals: there are indicators of level of activity, maintenance, operations, training, environment, control units or airports.

With this extension, PISO incorporates safety indicators from in-flight training schools (ATO) and non-commercial operators with complex motor-powered aircraft (NCCs), along with those already received from commercial air transport operators (AOCs), specialised airwork operators under European regulation (SPO), and specialised operators of firefighting and search and rescue activities under national regulations (COE). For each of these types of operation specific indicators are established depending on the type of operation authorised or declared by the operator.

Spanish participation in the EU-Latin America and Caribbean aviation cooperation project

Within the framework of the EU-Latin America and Caribbean aviation cooperation project, AESA held a workshop in Lima on the implementation of the State Operational Safety Programme.

The workshop took place from 3 to 7 February and was attended by representatives of the civil aviation authorities of Peru, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay and Bolivia.

The participants highly appreciated the experience and knowledge gained based on the process of implementation and operation of the PESO. The best proof of this is their request to organise future workshops to deepen various aspects of the Programme.

II National Aviation and Wildlife Forum

The 2nd National Aviation and Wildlife Forum was held on 29 January. The opening of the event was made by the General Secretary of Transport and Mobility.

This second forum responds to a need for greater dissemination of wildlife management and better coordination between airport managers, AESA and national, regional and local environmental authorities, as well as representatives of the scientific field.

The day was carried out with the balance of the commitments made in the first edition highlighting the General Plan for Aviation and Fauna, the final version of which was published in July 2019, and the development of the working groups of Great Planners and Colombofilia, which have involved a great coordination between all the actors involved.

Moreover, during the presentation of events, the importance of the quality of the data reported by operators (impact heights, distance to the airport, hit/damaged parts) and airports (species, debris analysis) was emphasised. The availability of quality data facilitates analysis and therefore action.

All presentations by the speakers as well as the documentation of the Forum are published here. 

EGAST Group Guide Material in Spanish

AESA has collaborated with the European group EGAST (European General Aviation Safety Team) in the translation of guidance material. The following material has been published in this six-month period:

• GA7 Safe use of advanced navigation technology
• GA8 Loss of control by loss and auger
• GA9 Flight Information Service
• GA10 In-flight ice formation

EGAST Safety Promotion Brochures

Translation into Spanish of 10 brochures promoting safety in General Aviation produced by the European General Aviation Safety Team (EGAST).

• GA1 Collision prevention
• GA2 Decision-making
• GA3 Weather anticipation
• GA4 Flight close to high ground
• GA5 Ice formation in piston engines
• GA6 Impact with birds
• GA7 Safe use of advanced navigation technology
• GA8 Loss of control by loss and auger
• GA9 Flight Information Service
• GA10 In-flight ice formation

AESA forwards to the Secretariat of State the report of the PESO 2018

One more year, the Agency has complied with Article 11.5 of Law 21/2003 on Aviation Safety and has submitted the PESO’s annual report to the Secretary of State for Transport. The Ministry of Public Works will then forward this report to the competent committees of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate.

The report summarises the degree of implementation and implementation of the Programme during 2018 and is based on the information collected by AESA from the responses provided by the various parties concerned: public bodies linked by the PESO and suppliers of aeronautical services and products.

The degree of compliance with the actions planned under the Programme has been high, at 86 %, above the target of 75 % initially defined.

Update of the recommendation to prevent and detect Hard-Landings

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has updated the Recommendations for the Prevention and Detection of Hard-Landings, in particular information on pre-warning levels, obtained through the Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) analysis.

This Edition 2.0 is the result of the study of the events that occurred, and of the learning of the implementation of preventive and corrective measures applied in the monitoring of events (Follow-up) of various air operators.

The document can be found at the following link:

recs_2018_002.pdf

Opening edition of SAFE (Safety in Aviation Forum for Europe)

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) attended the inaugural edition of the Safety in Aviation Forum for Europe (SAFE) 360°. This event, organised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), took place in Brussels from 13 to 15 May and provided an equal opportunity to address the different safety issues using a cross-cutting approach between different aviation domains.

The event brought together around 250 professionals from across the European aviation community in order to exchange experiences and propose solutions to the different safety issues by dealing with them through the expanded vision that provides the presentation of combined and cross-cutting risks.

The first day covered the strategic vision, the main risks and their possible collaborative mitigation actions. The second and third days, following the same vision of collaborative action, dealt with ramp incursions, lithium batteries and ground safety, followed by separate event reporting sessions and Flight Data Monitoring (FDM).

Participation in key international safety fora

AESA participated from 6 to 10 May in the meeting of the Safety Management International Collaboration Group (SM ICG) in Brisbane, Australia. In the SM ICG, regulatory authorities cooperate jointly to promote a common understanding of safety management principles and requirements and facilitate their implementation throughout the international aviation community.

AESA collaborates in the translation into Spanish of the products produced by the SM ICG to facilitate their promotion. Translated products can be downloaded from our website:

work-groups-and-comites-of-experts

On this occasion, the theme chosen for the group’s plenary session was SSP Implementation: Challenges and Opportunities. OACI (International Civil Aviation Organisation) shared with the group the results of the last meeting of the OACI Panel on Safety Risk Management, EASA showed the new European regulatory framework and some national supervisory authorities explained their progress in activities related to safety management programmes.

The theme of the industry day was Safety Management Beyond 2020: Challenges and opportunities. Several representatives of the Australian local industry had the opportunity to show the group members and the rest of the industry their progress and the difficulties encountered. The ICG SM took the opportunity to present to the industry the material already developed and which is useful as a guide for the implementation of safety management systems in the organisations.

Finally, during the working days of the group, AESA participated in a new project that develops guidance material on the management of operational safety risks at the state level. The objective of this project is to make available to regulators and state civil aviation organisations a reference guide that identifies those changes at state level that may affect the management of safety risks, the process of risk management of these risks and, finally, different human factors associated with the process.

In addition, the OACI Panel on Annex 19 Operational Safety Management held its 4th official meeting at OACI facilities in Montreal from 23 to 26 April.

Progress continued in the development of the website associated with the 4th edition of the Operational Safety Management Manual (OACI document 9859), SMI website, and discussed topics such as proposed amendments to the Annex, the emergency response plan or the need for revision of the ALoSP concept, an acceptable level of safety performance.

Participation in the final of the 48th Franz Edelman Prize

During the month of April, the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) participated in Austin (Texas, USA) in the final of the 48th Franz Edelman Award for Achievements in Advanced Analysis, Operations Research and Management Sciences, awarded by the International Association of Operations and Analysis Research Professionals (INFORMS).

AESA has been one of the six finalists for its methodology of the preventive approach to safety. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) dictates that each country must develop a State Security Program (SSP) to develop a preventive approach to safety oversight and management at the national level.

These programmes enable strategic decision-making and the allocation of resources to support hazard identification, risk assessment, security assurance and safety promotion. The Agency partnered with the Royal Academy of Sciences of Spain to introduce analytical methodologies that support the SSP.

Its methodology, the Aviation Safety Risk Management Tool (RIMAS), means that for the first time advanced analytical techniques have been used in a preventive approach to civil aviation.

AESA has shared this experience with five other finalists, all of which are renowned organisations:

• Boston Public Schools, for developing with MIT an algorithm that made the city’s school bus system more efficient.
• IBM, for introducing time-consuming, subjective business judgement analysis and operations research tools for informed decisions based on information and data.
• Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District and Tetra Tech, for implementing the RTC software solution developed by Tetra Tech, CSOFT® to efficiently manage sewage networks in real time according to rain forecasts and sensor readings.
• Microsoft, for developing an innovative fraud detection system based on advanced artificial intelligence, operations research and automation.
• Vattenfall, for operations research techniques (O.R.) in the design of wind farms, combined with technical knowledge, commercial knowledge and system design to achieve great savings.

All the finalist organisations were awarded a trophy that recognises the merit of having reached this stage. Finally, it was Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District and Tetra Tech that won the triumph. In addition, all the authors participating in the articles associated with these five projects were distinguished as laureates Edelman

Information day for air operators

During the month of April, the State Agency for Aviation Safety (AESA) gave an informative day at the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Works of Paseo de la Castellana, with the assistance of air operators.

Topics related to:

• Regulatory changes (New EASA Basic Regulation, NAT HLA/PBCS Operational Approval, New Entry Policy Requirements (AIROPS/SERA), New Controls (Alcohol and Psychoactive Substances) - Pilot Support Programme and Dangerous Goods).
• Changes and Frequently Asked Questions.
• Electronic notifications, new regulatory framework.
• Monitoring (Continued Surveillance Plan, Performance Based Monitoring, Frequent Non-compliances).
• Operations Manual.

Workshop on fair culture

On 4 and 5 April, the 3 rd Workshop on Fair Culture was held at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB). Judicial and aviation world, jointly organised by APROCTA (Professional Association of Air Traffic Controllers), EUROCONTROL, UIB and ENAIRE, to which AESA was invited as a partner.

During these days, we worked together with professionals from the judicial world, to improve the dissemination of the fair culture, and the understanding of it within the field of civil and criminal law.

Topics such as non-contractual liability and indictment in criminal proceedings, the protection of the notifier or fair culture in Air Navigation, among others, were discussed, as well as a round table between AESA, COPAC (Official Association of Commercial Aviation Pilots), UIB, ENAIRE, FerroNATS and Gatco (Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers), where the evolution of the model of accident and incident investigation was discussed.

Workshop “Think Safety” organised by OACI and IFATCA (International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations)

In partnership with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), IFATCA organised another “Think Safety” workshop on 27 February, 1 and 2 March. With the support of the Spanish member association, USCA, the headquarters of this edition was Madrid. The aviation safety workshop was aimed at aviation professionals with the aim of improving their understanding of safety processes and safety culture.

In response to the invitation made by ENAIRE/APROCTA, AESA, through a representative of the Commission for the Study and Analysis of Air Transit Incidents (CEANITA), participated in the Workshop “Think Safety”, which analysed the latest developments in terms of incident investigation and fair culture. The seminar, as a “participatory workshop” of all attendees, proved to be a great use for the participants.

RI and RE triptychs

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has issued recommendations of good practice to prevent and mitigate ramp incursions and departures from aircraft.

The information leaflets are intended for aerodrome and vehicle operators, air and crew operators and ATS service providers, with the aim of reducing the number of incidents in this field of aviation.

These compilations of good practices are within the thirteen priority areas of the Operational Safety Action Plan (PASO) which is associated with the State Operational Safety Program (PESO).

Runway incursion is an event at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person in the protected area of an area designated for landing or take-off of an aircraft.

The Track exit is any event in which an aircraft deviates from its route or exceeds the runway surface, during take-off or landing operations.

The information leaflets produced by AESA are available on the AESA website and can be downloaded by all interested persons:

• Good practices for preventing and mitigating runway incursions
• Good practices for preventing and mitigating runway exits

AEMET conference for aeronautical users

On February 27, 2019, the 2019 Aeronautical Users Forum took place, held at the Central Services of the State Meteorology Agency (AEMET).

The Forum was presented by various AEMET technicians and as key presentations highlighted the presentation of the Aerodrome Meteorological Guide at Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas Airport, a study on shearing at Barcelona Airport, the visualisation of various reports such as AIREP, SIGMET and AIRMET, a study to improve visibility prediction at Tenerife North Airport and finally, the development and improvement of the AMA (Aeronautical Meteorological Self Service). The Forum concluded with a panel discussion in which speakers and all the participants who wished to speak took part.

For the third consecutive year, AESA has explained at the French Civil Aviation School (ENAC) the implementation of PESO in our country

For the third consecutive year, staff of the Directorate for Security Assessment and Internal Technical Audit of AESA explained at the National School of French Civil Aviation (ENAC) the process of implementing the State Operational Safety Programme (PESO) and our country’s firm commitment to achieving a high level of operational safety in civil aviation.

The participation of AESA staff is a response to the invitation of staff from the French DGAC, in charge of the coordination of the State-level operational safety module of the Advanced Master on Safety Management in Aviation organised by ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile).

Students in this Advanced Master’s Degree come from different countries around the world such as France, Colombia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Mali, Somalia, Macedonia, Congo, Nepal, Serbia, or Moldova, among others, and most of them are personnel of the respective CAAs - aviation authorities - of these countries.

ENAIRE Security Forum

ENAIRE, air navigation manager in Spain, gathered representatives of the aeronautical sector at its headquarters in Madrid on 29 and 30 January to celebrate the 8th edition of the Safety Forum in coordination with EUROCONTROL and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The aim of this forum is to advance coordination between actors involved in aviation safety.

The meeting was attended by representatives of EUROCONTROL, IATA, Aena, airlines (Iberia, Air Europa, Air France, Ryanair, Iberia Express), Colegio Oficial de Pilotos (COPAC), Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA) and the General Staff of the Air (EMA)