Just Culture

European Parliament puts aviation safety first

The Transport Committee supported provisions to ensure that aviation safety professionals - such as pilots and air traffic controllers - are protected when reporting any mishaps or mistakes and that the information they provide is not misused.

BRUSSELS - EU pilots and air traffic controllers welcome the EU Parliamentarians' positive vote on the proposed new Occurrence Reporting Regulation. The EP Transport Committee agreed on refining and improving procedures for reporting of aviation safety incidents and setting up a solid framework for strengthening aviation safety across Europe.

"Europe's airline pilots and air traffic controllers warmly welcome the adoption of this report", says Nico Voorbach, ECA President. "The pro-safety stance developed by the EP rapporteur Mrs de Veyrac - and vigorously supported by her colleagues within the Transport Committee - is remarkable. A true safety culture is one that recognizes that it can always improve. MEPs have understood this and introduced valuable improvements to an already good proposal by the EU Commission."

In view of the forthcoming inter-institutional negotiations, Alexis Brathwaite, IFATCA President & CEO states: "EU Ministers must now take note of the will of Europe's citizens and aviation experts and start putting more emphasis on safety. This was the clear message of today's Parliament Transport Committee vote."

With this vote the EU Transport Committee remains consistent and coherent in its approach to improving occurrence reporting in Europe and goes in the opposite direction of EU Transport Ministers who watered down the text in June. The Transport Committee supported provisions to ensure that aviation safety professionals - such as pilots and air traffic controllers - are protected when reporting any mishaps or mistakes and that the information they provide is not misused. These provisions would help to set up a comprehensive framework for collection and analysis of aviation incident data, which is critical to identifying the pertinent safety risks in aviation. The proposed Occurrence Reporting Regulation, with the changes adopted by the Parliamentarians, is a solid basis for developing a genuine, robust Just Culture environment across Europe.