WRITTEN QUESTION E-1781/02

by Luciano Caveri (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 June 2002)

Subject: Aviation safety

Irrespective of the findings of the various investigations into the air crash in Milan on 18 April, which occurred when a light aircraft struck Pirelli Tower, the crash poses certain questions concerning supervision and future technical choices. Suffice to say, with regard to supervision, that neither the Cessna CJ2 aircraft, nor the pilot, should have been in the air that day, because the weather conditions called for a category 3 status, and they could only fly in category 1 conditions.

There are also more general questions concerning: adequate on-board equipment (in the first place a transponder) on all general aviation aircraft operating in areas adjacent to busy flight paths; general aviation access to major airports under instrument flight (IFR) only; restriction of general aviation activities under visual flight (VFR) to areas remote from major airports and major population centres; the swift implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance with continuous data flow Broadcast (ADS-B system), once Europe has made a firm choice as to which data-link to use.

Lastly, one should not forget the raft of measures that the USA is adopting in this field following the attacks on the Twin Towers in September 2001.

What are the Commission's observations on this assessment?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(14 August 2002)

Under the present circumstances, the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) documents and annexes provide guidance to States concerning the operating conditions, pilot qualifications and aircraft equipage related to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) conditions. The translation, application and supervision of these rules and annexes are the responsibility of the States concerned and their designated authorities, acting under the cover of the Joint Aviation Authority (JAA).

In line with their responsibilities States promulgate legislation and orders in the relevant publications (Aeronautical Information Publication, National Air Navigation Orders) concerning:

- the carriage of transponders which is regulated by the type of flight (private, passenger, cargo etc) and the quality of the airspace within which the flight will take place;

- the availability of major airport to flights according to the nature of the flight and the flight conditions. This may be related to the service capability of the airport (security, immigration, emergency services, customs etc) concerned and the Air Traffic services provided;

- the restrictions on general aviation VFR (and IFR) flights to areas remote from major airports and major population centre. These are usually related to sites of strategic importance such as military installations, power stations, government buildings etc. In general, major population centres will also have a minimum over-flight altitude restriction.

However the effectiveness of the above process is hampered by the current lack of a strong European regulator which could impose uniform, precise and enforceable obligations on various players. The case of the compliance of the flight plan with minimum operating conditions (such as weather) is a good example. The actual system does not give guarantees against abuses.

The Single Sky initiative(1) aims at remedying this situation by introducing a regulatory framework to reinforce air traffic management and make it subject to harmonised Community rules.

It will also allow speeding up the introduction of the necessary equipment and tools, which could improve safety. An example quoted by the Honourable Member is the installation of ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance broadcast) systems on board of all aircraft since it will allow the pilots of suitably equipped aircraft to know at any moment the situation of the air traffic around them. The Commission is actively contributing to developments in this domain through the Research Programme and through Trans European Transport Networks.

(1) COM(2001) 123 final and COM(2001) 564 final.