The main objective of the State Safety Programme is to improve aviation safety. To achieve this, it requires the gathering and analysis of safety data and information. This is gathered from multiple sources including:
Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs) - These are treated confidentially and are generated when specific occurrences happen; more detail on mandatory occurrence reporting and the types of occurrences that are mandatory can be found here: www.caa.co.uk/mor.
ECCAIRS – The European Co-ordination Centre for Accident and Incident Reporting Systems is an occurrence reporting system used by European civil aviation authorities as a repository for MORs and Safety Recommendations. The reporting of occurrences in the UK and the rest of Europe is governed by UK Regulation (EU) 376/2014. The recording of UK Safety Recommendations on ECCAIRS is carried out by the AAIB as required by UK Regulation (EU) 996/2010.
The UK has confidential voluntary reporting systems for aviation occurrences, this is fulfilled through:
- Confidential Human Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP) which provides a means for individuals to raise safety concerns.
- The whistleblowing policy which enables anyone to report a safety concern directly to the CAA.
- The MOR system that also accepts voluntary reports.
Accident Reports – The CAA reviews accident reports including events that occur outside the UK to identify issues that could be relevant to the UK aviation system.
Regulatory Safety Management System (RSMS) – The CAA RSMS has been developed to provide the necessary governance, policies, processes, procedures and tools to help the CAA to deliver better safety outcomes for the UK public. This gathers intelligence from oversight activities and CAA’s staff interactions with regulated organisations.
Airprox Reports – The primary objective of airprox reports is to enhance air safety in the UK, in respect of lessons to be learned and applied from airprox occurrences reported within UK airspace.
MAA RA 1410 - Occurrence Reporting mandates that all reportable occurrences involving defence aircraft or facilities are reported, managed and appropriate actions taken. Appropriate reports are fed into civil systems through established routes. For example, airprox reports raised by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) are passed to the UK Airprox Board for assessment; the MOD is a member of the board. The Memorandum of Understanding between the MAA and CAA requires both parties to share safety critical information as soon as practicable.
The AAIB has access to the information on the various reporting systems, which includes MOR and ECCAIRS. It regularly meets with CHIRP and the UK Airprox Board. This information is used during investigations to highlight safety issues that may require action. In analysing the information, it may lead to the AAIB conducting an independent safety study under UK Regulation (EU) 996/2010.
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