Airspace Infringements

Iain McDermott-Paine, Southampton AirportAOA Representative – Airspace Infringement Working Group

Agenda• Airspace Infringements – a definition

• The consequences of an Airspace Infringement

• The Airspace Infringement Working Group

• The UK picture – where do our Infringements happen?

• The 2015 plan – the 5 ‘hot spots’

• ‘Fly on Track’

• CAA Infringement Tutorial

• Some of the challenges

What is an airspace infringement?

“An Airspace Infringement is generally defined as a flight into notified airspace without previously requesting and obtaining approval from the controlling authority of that airspace in accordance with international and national regulations”

Source – European Action Plan for Airspace Infringement Risk Reduction; January 2010

The consequences of an airspace infringement?

Mid air collision or ‘Airprox’ • The worst case scenario

Loss of standard separation• Potential to cause loss of control on board an aircraft, even injuries if

violent maneuverers are required.• Risk of commercial traffic operating outside of controlled airspace

Operational impact• Increased controller / pilot workload• Adverse economic and environmental impact due to additional track

mileage• Disruption to schedules

Airspace Infringement Working Group (AIWG) • National group chaired by CAA Manager Airspace Regulation• Group has been in place for a number of years working on a

range of infringement initiatives• Membership of AIWG includes:

CAA (Airspace, GA unit, Flight Ops, Communications)Military Aircraft Operators and Pilots AssociationLight Aircraft AssociationGeneral Aviation Safety CouncilBritish Microlight Aircraft AssociationNATS (Safety / En route)Guild of Air Traffic Control OfficersBritish Gliding AssociationAirport Operators Association

UK National Infringement Data

Source: CAA Infringement Action Plan, 2014

‘2015 Hot Spots’

Airspace Infringement Working Group (AIWG) have identified 5 hot spots:

1. Southampton / Solent2. Heathrow3. Birmingham4. Luton / Stansted5. Gatwick

• Each aerodrome has been requested by the AIWG and CAA to set up a Local Airspace Infringement Team (LAIT).

• The LAIT’s will continue to feed into the AIWG during 2015.• Each LAIT must set targets for a reduction in high risk infringements

(guidance from CAA is between 30% and 50% reduction) • The CAA may impose airspace mitigations if targets are not met

• This is a 12month programme though may be extended if recommended by each LAIT and agreed by the AIWG

‘Fly on Track’

Independent resource primarily aimed at GA pilots

Content includes:

• Tips on how to avoid an infringement

• Statistics

• Radar replays of infringements

• Pilot reports / Incidents

CAA Infringement Retraining / Tutorial

• Launched Autumn 2014

• Password can be sent to infringing pilot by CAA and licensing action taken if not completed and passed within one month

• 20 random questions, 10 minutes, pass rate 80%

CAA Infringement Retraining / Tutorial (cont…)

• Not all infringing pilots are asked to complete the test – each case is reviewed to determine whether poor airmanship is underlying cause

• Distinct from existing licensing action that can still be taken if CAA deem necessary

• Tutorial available for all pilots

• Results analysed by AIWG

Some of the Challenges

• Getting the message to the target audience - those with excellent airmanship skills are often already the most engaged

• Improving the reporting level and analysing trends from all available data, including military

• Is the underlying issue the Pilot, the Flying School, or the Instructor?

• Possible Airspace mitigations and the impact on all airspace users

Some helpful links:

Fly on trackwww.flyontrack.co.uk

CAA IN 2013/140 – Introduction of post infringement questionnairehttps://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/InformationNotice2013140web.pdf

Eurocontrol (including action plan)http://www.eurocontrol.int/articles/airspace-infringement-initiative.

Any questions?