The EUROCONTROL Voluntary ATM Incident Reporting (EVAIR) team is honoured to have this opportunity to address the EBAA and its members. EVAIR has been in existence for almost 15 years now and as the first voluntary ATM incident data collection scheme, it is organised at a pan-European level. The EVAIR mechanism was set up in response to a request from EUROCONTROL’s Provisional Council, which called for the establishment of a single European ATM safety repository. The aim was to adopt a more proactive approach to ATM safety by learning from low- severity incidents reported by aircraft operators and ANSPs, the content and root causes of which are very similar to accidents and serious incidents but which are not generally the subject of mandatory reports or official investigations. The final aim is to prevent accidents and serious incidents by fast mitigation or fixing of the problems identified and sharing of the lessons learned. This new approach calls for the availability of occurrence data, which in turn can only be made available if several prerequisites are met: data provision/collection and data flow mechanisms and an appropriate legal, managerial, cultural and technical framework.

The main EVAIR stakeholders and occurrence data providers are aircraft operators and ANSPs. Occurrence reports are provided through the EVAIR mechanism mainly daily, although some occurrence data owners provide their reports monthly, depending on their preference and internal organisation. EVAIR cooperates with more than 300 different aircraft operators from all associations, including a few from the EBAA. All European ANSPs including the former Soviet Union republics, plus those from North Africa, the Middle East, and even some from North and South America, depending on requests from aircraft operators for the feedback cooperate with EVAIR. For some types of occurrence, such as ACAS RAs, call sign similarities and GPS outages, at the request of our stakeholders and in support of various projects within EUROCONTROL, EVAIR has established special channels for data collection and sharing. Geographically, EVAIR covers the whole of ECAC airspace, including areas where the AOs, members of the EVAIR team, fly and experience certain ATM safety problems.

EVAIR focuses on the following pillars:

• Data collection, recording and analysis
• Feedback facilitation between the data suppliers (usually airlines) and ANSPs
• Monitoring and provision of periodical statistics through EVAIR safety bulletins, customised analysis following requests from stakeholders, various EUROCONTROL projects and ad-hoc meetings with stakeholders

EVAIR works intensively to:

• support regional, local and EUROCONTROL Agency safety activities;
• promote a Just Culture through its non-punitive voluntary incident reporting policies;
• increase the number of ATM incident data providers and improve cooperation with its main stakeholders;
• develop safety data reporting and analysis tools;
• maintain the safety contact list of AOs and ANSPs safety managers.

EVAIR feedback is recognised by all stakeholders as a means of helping airlines and ANSPs address safety-related problems promptly and facilitate quick fixes. The feedback takes the form of operational investigations carried out by aircraft operators and ANSP safety management systems. Indeed, there is a growing understanding between EVAIR, ANSPs aircraft operators and other aviation stakeholders. Timely provision of feedback helps not only to implement timely solutions but also to enhance trust between airlines and ANSPs.

EVAIR periodically produces bulletins, for summers and full years, which portray ATM safety trends through statistical presentations. It also provides customised analysis to numerous stakeholders on an on-request basis.

EVAIR is doing its best to increase the number of data providers and improve services and products. EBAA members are very welcome to join EVAIR, and if they so wish even to visit us at EUROCONTROL’s premises.

When collecting and processing data, EVAIR follows strict security and confidentiality arrangements, and the information is used only for the promotion and enhancement of aviation safety and the sharing of best practices. Joining EVAIR does not require any additional cost or effort. It is enough for the EVAIR manager to be on the distribution list or to send in the report using the airline format and highlighting in the message whether any feedback is required.

The contact person for all ATM occurrence reports provided on a voluntary basis is Ms Dragica Stankovic, EVAIR Function Manager: dragica.stankovic@eurocontrol.int and evair@eurocontrol.int.

Want to get in touch with EBAA about safety? Contact the EBAA Safety team at safety@ebaa.org.