Strategic Objective — Safety

Implementation

SAFE Fund

The Safety Fund (SAFE) is a mechanism for the collection and use of voluntary contributions from States and other donors to support implementation of ICAO programmes which cannot be funded by the ICAO regular budget. It is designed to improve aviation safety in States facing challenges to resolve safety-related deficiencies identified by ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) activities.

In 2015, ICAO received voluntary contributions of funds to SAFE from Chile, China, Nepal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation and Thailand, and developed new assistance projects to respond to the needs of Cambodia, Comoros, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Nepal, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Please follow this link for further information on the SAFE fund.

Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership (ASIAP)

In order to further advance aviation safety implementation assistance capacity, the Aviation Safety Implementation Assistance Partnership (ASIAP) was established during the High-level Safety Conference (HLSC 2015) in February.

The ASIAP facilitates discussion amongst donors and assistance providers. Its main activities include the continuous sharing of assistance information, collaboration on particular assistance activities, as well as periodic coordination meetings. The coordination and sharing of information on assistance projects, as well as activities planned and implemented by the partners, helps to avoid duplication of efforts and maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of assistance programmes provided by the partners.

ICAO held the first face-to-face ASIAP Meeting on 25 November during the International World Aviation Forum (IWAF). It provided an opportunity for the partners to explore ways to work better together on assistance efforts. Coordination and collaboration efforts will continue through regular teleconferences. The next face-to-face ASIAP Meeting will be held during the 39th Session of the Assembly.

Support Activities

Runway Safety Programme

Runway safety continues to be a global priority for ICAO. Runway safety events such as runway incursions, excursions and other runway safety-related events are among the top high-risk accident categories worldwide, and addressing these problems is a major focus for ICAO and its Runway Safety Programme (RSP) partners.

One of the top priorities for the RSP and its partners is to promote and support the sharing and use of best practices and lessons learned with regard to runway safety. An example of a best practice is the establishment and enhancement of multidisciplinary Runway Safety Teams (RSTs) at aerodromes, which is promoted by the RSP and its partners. RSTs can identify current and emerging runway safety issues at a particular location and have proven highly successful at mitigating the risks of runway incursions and excursions in addition to promoting collaboration between regulators, air navigation services providers, and airline and airport operators.

As part of an overall strategy to improve the implementation of RSTs, ICAO, in close collaboration with Airports Council International (ACI), has begun to plan a comprehensive RST global study. The intent of the project is to establish an initial listing of validated RSTs and to provide information on the working methods and compliance of such teams to the jointly developed Runway Safety Team Handbook.

In addition, Runway Safety Go-Teams provide international technical assistance from ICAO and RSP partner organizations to support the implementation of effective RSTs to improve runway safety, including training, assessments, gap analyses, expert advice and guidance based on best practices.

In 2015, ICAO released the Second Edition of the Runway Safety Team Handbook and, in coordination with RSP partners, updated many of the references and links in the Runway Safety Implementation Kit (I-Kit) which is located on the runway safety website.

The ICAO runway safety website serves as a single reference for runway safety and promotes the sharing and exchange of safety information, guidance and tools between stakeholders.

The ICAO Runway Safety I-Kit contains runway safety references and tools from the RSP partners.

Controlled Flight into Terrain (CFIT)

CFIT accidents over the last five years have generally occurred in relation to domestic flights that were not required by national regulations to carry ground proximity warning systems (GPWS) with forward-looking capability or any kind of ground proximity warning system.

A small number of accidents occurred when the flight crew did not apply correct recovery procedures after a warning from the GPWS, one happened when the altimetry system malfunctioned and was also mismanaged by the flight crew, and other accidents involving civil passengers were operated by military aircraft, considered as State aircraft.

While statistics show a recent upward trend in CFIT, mainly in turbo-propeller aircraft, there has not been a need for new ICAO provisions specifically addressing CFIT as GPWS with forward-looking capability has been deemed an effective countermeasure against CFIT.

Several ICAO actions, while not specifically targeting CFIT, are aimed at reducing some contributory factors, for example, the introduction of more competency-based training where the application of procedures is one competency. Another action being considered is requiring that the GPWS with forward-looking capability be maintained up to date, including in terms of software and the navigation database.

Competency of Aviation Personnel

Work is under way on the development of new provisions for the Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Training (PANS-TRG, Doc 9868), including competency frameworks for air traffic management (ATM) personnel. These ATM training procedures will appear in a restructured PANS-TRG which will introduce a series of future competency frameworks for other aviation professionals.

Loss of Control in Flight (LOC-I) — Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Workshops

After the Standards requiring upset prevention and recovery training became applicable, on 13 November 2014 in Annex 1 and Annex 6, it was felt that regional workshops would facilitate their implementation, based on the supporting material in the PANS-TRG (Doc 9868), the Manual on Aeroplane Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (Doc 10011) and the Manual of Criteria for the Qualification of Flight Simulation Training Devices (Doc 9625).

A group of partners, including the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), training providers, aircraft manufacturers, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ICAO, developed a two-day workshop involving presentations and demonstrations in a flight simulation training device. Two workshops were conducted in 2015 (Lima, Peru and Istanbul, Turkey) and a further four to six workshops are currently planned.

In addition, the ICAO Secretariat supported the main aircraft manufacturers (Airbus, ATR, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer) in developing Revision 3 of the Upset Recovery Training Aid, including a more user-friendly electronic interface, additional training scenarios and pop-up surprise questions.

Revision 3 is scheduled for the second quarter of 2016 and will be circulated for comments to other aircraft manufacturers before being posted on-line for free access as an ICAO document.