Strategic Objective — Safety

Implementation

Regional Targets and Dashboards

The Regional Offices are leading the process for the establishment of aviation safety and air navigation regional priorities and targets for the regional implementation of the revised Global Aviation Safety Plan (GASP) and Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP) endorsed by the 38th Session of the Assembly. This can be seen in the revision of the objectives and work programmes of the regional aviation safety groups (RASGs) and planning and implementation regional groups (PIRGs). Implementation progress is reported in the annual RASG Aviation Safety Reports and reflected in the annual Global Aviation Safety Report as well as the new Global Air Navigation Report. Implementation progress can also be viewed in the new regional performance dashboards which were launched this year.

http://www.icao.int/safety/Pages/Regional-Targets.aspx.

Support Activities

Runway Safety Programme

ICAO is leading the collaborative effort required to reduce the number of runway-related incidents and accidents worldwide. As a result, ICAO and its Runway Safety Programme (RSP) partners have been working together to minimize and mitigate the risks of runway incursions, runway excursions and other events linked to runway safety.

The RSP promotes and supports the establishment and enhancement of multidisciplinary Runway Safety Teams (RSTs) at aerodromes. RSTs have proven highly successful at mitigating the risks of runway incursions and excursions, providing a collaborative effort between regulators, air navigation service providers and airline and airport operators. The ICAO Runway Safety (RS) Go-Teams aim to provide international technical assistance from ICAO and RSP partner organizations for the implementation of effective RSTs to improve runway safety, supporting implementation by providing technical assistance, including training, assessments, gap analyses, expert advice and guidance, based on best practices.

The ICAO Runway Safety website provides information on the RSP as well as references and links to ICAO partners, and information on regional events, guidance materials and tool kits. In 2014, ICAO released the first edition of the Runway Safety Implementation Kit (I-Kit), which included the new ICAO Runway Safety Handbook and many other references produced by RSP partners to serve as a single reference for runway safety and promote the sharing and exchange of safety information, guidance and tools between stakeholders. A Runway Safety Go-Team methodology was also developed to harmonize and align the multidisciplinary efforts from all partners and stakeholders in providing on-site assistance to airports on establishing and managing RSTs. The ICAO Runway Safety I-Kit contains available runway safety references and tools from the RSP partners: www.icao.int/safety/RunwaySafety/Pages/default.aspx

RSP actions have an impact on the aviation safety record by reducing the number of runway-related incidents and accidents, and this is reflected in the ICAO regional dashboards (www.icao.int/safety/pages/regional-targets.aspx). ICAO’s collaborative efforts led to a reduction in runway safety-related accidents of 32 per cent in the 2010-2013 period.

Loss of Control in Flight (LOC-I) — The Collaborative LOC-I Programme

Following on ICAO’s Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I ) Symposium held in Montréal in May, wide industry support for a global and coordinated approach in addressing this top aviation safety priority has resulted in the establishment of a collaborative LOC-I programme. International associations and organizations (including Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Embraer, CAE, EASA, FAA, IATA and IFALPA) are working with ICAO to develop content and support the delivery of LOC-I workshops, to develop tools to support the prevention of LOC-I events, and to provide easy access to these tools on a collaborative website.

A series of regional LOC-I workshops is scheduled to begin in 2015 to assist regulators, operators, pilot training organizations and pilots to identify and adopt effective LOC-I prevention strategies and to enhance the implementation of the new upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) provisions in Annex 1 — Personnel Licensing and Annex 6 — Operation of Aircraft, Part I International Commercial Air Transport — Aeroplanes. A new chapter in the Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Training (PANS-TRG) (Doc 9868) and the new Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (Doc 10011) support these provisions, as does guidance in an upcoming new edition of the Manual of Criteria for the Qualification of Flight Simulation Training Devices, Volume I — Aeroplanes (Doc 9625).

Technical initiatives

Accident Investigation and Support — e-Library of Safety Lessons

The e-Library of Final Reports of accident and incident investigations was developed to disseminate safety lessons and other safety-related information to the aviation community at large. The e-Library allows the user to search for specific attributes of accidents and incidents and identify reports of particular interest. By improving access to critical safety-related information, this digital library enhances the implementation of preventive and corrective actions related to deficiencies identified during investigations.

The e-Library of Final Reports is available on the ICAO public website under the Accident Investigation Section at http://www.icao.int/safety/airnavigation/AIG/Pages/E-library-of-Final-Reports.aspx.

Flight Operations

Airworthiness

The Third Edition of the Airworthiness Manual (Doc 9760) has been published on the ICAO NET, and a seminar was conducted in the Middle East Region (Khartoum, Sudan) to introduce the new structure of the manual.

Continuing Airworthiness of Aircraft in Service (Cir 95) is now an online document that States can access to update their information directly. This will provide the most current information to States and international organizations.

Competency of Aviation Personnel

Work to develop guidance for the training and qualification of aviation personnel is ongoing, with highlights being the development underway of provisions for the Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Training (PANS-TRG) (Doc 9868), including competency frameworks for air traffic management personnel and a restructuring of the document.

Annex 6 Provisions Adopted in 2014

The electronic flight bag (EFB) provisions mark the beginning of a new era by facilitating a paperless environment in the flight deck that will result in significant savings for aircraft operators.

Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) audits revealed a lack of provisions in State regulations to address the requirements for operators with no operational approval to transport dangerous goods. In response, dangerous goods provisions were adopted to help better define the responsibilities of the State of the Operator in relation to the transport of dangerous goods on aircraft.

Enhanced vision system SARPs will bring a wide range of safety and efficiency benefits from improved situational awareness and visual cues which can enable earlier runway alignment and a more stabilized approach to gaining operational credit when fewer ground facilities are available at aerodromes. This will bring significant savings for operators.

Aircraft Cabin Safety

Cabin crew members play a vital role in managing safety on board aircraft. ICAO has taken a lead position in focusing greater attention on cabin safety initiatives by publishing the First Edition of the Cabin Crew Safety Training Manual (Doc 10002). Doc 10002 provides guidance on the content of approved cabin crew training programmes, as required by the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) found in Annex 6 — Operation of Aircraft, Part I — International Commercial Air Transport — Aeroplanes. It presents cabin crew training from a competency-based approach and outlines an international baseline of all the competencies that are necessary for cabin crew members to perform their duties and responsibilities in normal, abnormal and emergency situations. The new document replaces the Cabin Attendants’ Safety Training Manual (Doc 7192, Part E-1), which dates from 1996.

In response to queries from States and industry, ICAO developed Guidelines for the Expanded Use of Portable Electronic Devices (Cir 340). This circular is intended to provide guidance for States who wish to allow operators to transition to an expanded use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) by passengers during critical phases of flight. The circular presents the series of considerations that a State should integrate into the approval process, including modifications to regulations and changes in policy and procedures, which should be required of any operator considering or planning to allow the expanded use of PEDs on its aircraft. Guidance is also provided to assist operators to implement the expanded use of PEDs, including the technical considerations associated with aircraft PED tolerability testing, as well as flight operations and cabin safety, crew training and passenger awareness aspects that should be considered as part of the process.

Aviation Medicine

A review of the upper age limit for pilots had been undertaken subsequent to a Council Decision (C-DEC 177/10) and in consequence Amendment 172 concerning the upper age limit for pilots became applicable on 13 November. The amendment involves changes to Annex 1 — Personnel Licensing and permits two pilots aged 60-64 years and engaged in international commercial air transport operations to be simultaneously at the controls. It also converts the 65-year upper-age limit for co-pilots from a Recommendation to a Standard.

In October, a Medical Provisions Study Group (MPSG) met to consider the feasibility of increasing the emphasis on preventive medicine in regulatory aviation medicine. Improved knowledge concerning the benefits of prevention of ill health may have potential in reducing aeromedical risks to flight safety by decreasing the number of on-duty incapacitation events and the chance of medically related performance decrements. Other potential benefits include a reduced number of career terminations on medical grounds and a decrease in the number of medical investigations. The MPSG recommended that a proposal be developed for an amendment to Annex 1 — Personnel Licensing, for consideration by the Air Navigation Commission during 2015.