Safety Analysis Division

STUDY DIVISION

SAFETY ANALYSIS AND STUDIES

MEDICAL ASPECTS AND HUMAN FACTORS

SAFETY DATA : statistics and database

GENERAL AVIATION BULLETIN

CONFIDENTIAL REPORTING SYSTEM (CRS)8

CRS a tool for improving safety

 

STUDY DIVISION

The principal mission of the BEA's Safety Analysis division is to develop overviews on aviation safety by means of analyses of series of events. Its technical investigators are also responsible for certain investigations.

The Safety Analysis division is made up of five sections:

SAFETY ANALYSIS AND STUDIES

In the context of its prevention mission, the Safety Analyses and Study service undertakes safety studies in public transport and general aviation. In order to achieve this, it analyses the results of completed investigations, and is involved in ongoing investigations which have a link with the theme of the safety study (for example, turbulence). Results from foreign investigation bodies, parallel studies (previous and/or external) as well as the opinion of certain specialists are also taken into account in the course of a safety study.

The service participates in international working groups in the area of safety studies, in the processing of incidents and the means associated therewith. It also follows up studies and research made by the DGAC and the SFACT (Aeronautical Training and Technical Inspection Service), which concern aviation safety.

MEDICAL ASPECTS AND HUMAN FACTORS

The medical aspects and human factors service contributes to the activities of the BEA on questions relating to the human element by providing technical support, in particular. It can also carry out complementary studies.

The service organises, in collaboration with the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Appliquée (Université René Descartes -Paris V), the training of BEA investigators in the domain of Human Factors, integrating concepts from the ADREP, 2000 1,based on the SHELL2 model.

 

This can be used, in particular, as an analytical grid for the functioning of the aviation system during an event.

 

The explanatory elements described in the ADREP relate to failures of systems, individuals or machines, which are noted by the technical investigator. The ICAO3 uses the ADREP and SHELL to register accidents and incidents, describe them and model weaknesses in safety, which may occur at the interface of the various modules.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAFETY DATA: statistics and database

The safety data service manages the BEA database on accidents and incidents. By processing this data, it establishes the BEA's annual statistics as well as the recurrent statistics provided to various organizations such as the ICAO, the CEAC4 and EUROCONTROL.

 

The service participates in national and international exchanges on the themes of sharing information on safety, on safety models and on tools used for

In addition, it ensures follow-up on safety recom-mendations issued by the BEA following reports or studies and those issued by foreign investigation bodies.

 

The service participates in national and international exchanges on the themes of sharing information on safety, on safety models and on tools used for processing data on safety.

 

It participates in various bodies and systems such as GAIN5, CAST6, ECCAIRS7, whose aim is to harmonise the various information systems on accidents and incidents.

 

 

 

 

GENERAL AVIATION BULLETIN

The monthly information bulletin on accidents and incidents in general aviation is a means of prevention that is mainly destined for those actively participating in general aviation.

The list of events that have occurred each month is published therein, accompanied by the monthly statistics,

while events that are important from the point of view of prevention are presented in the form of succinct reports.

CONFIDENTIAL REPORTING SYSTEM ( CRS8)

The confidential reporting system, set up in concert with the SFACT and user groups, is a system for voluntary reporting of apparently minor events that occur in general aviation and are generally linked to the human factor.

It is based on reports by pilots, mechanics or controllers and their subsequent analysis.

As a means of dialogue for safety, the CRS provides a complementary channel for feedback and the prevention of accidents.


CRS a tool for improving safety


the number of accidents which occur in the area of general aviation remains preoccupying, whilst the human dramas which result from them are tolerated less and less. The reduction in the number of victims requires a ceaseless search for a high level of safety by means of feedback. We know that the study of minor events which may be the precursors of accidents can contribute to an improvement in safety. Unfortunately, whilst incidents related to the environment or technology are reported without hesitation, those directly linked to Human Factors, which are the most common, often go unreported, especially where they leave no visible traces.

This is why the BEA set up the Confidential Reporting System (CRS) in concert with the Aeronautical Training and Technical Inspection Service and user groups.

Based on minor events mainly linked to Human Factors, this system of voluntary reports constitutes a complementary channel for feedback. Some states have already set up similar systems.

The operating principle of the CRS is very simple:

To counter any possible reticence, specific guarantees have been put in place:

 

The launch of the system, at the beginning of 2001, was the subject of a widespread information campaign among general aviation organisations and the users themselves. A good number of reports have already been treated, information passed on to the administration and a dozen or so editions of CRS Info published.

Thus, the CRS has contributed to the prevention of accidents

by making knowledge acquired from each available to all.

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1 Accident Data REPorting system. The ICAO ADREP system proposes taxonomy which allows for description of all events or sequences of events, associated with the phase of flight, and based on the descriptive explanatory and causal factors. Elements relating to human factors come from the SHELL model.

2 Software Hardware Environment Liveware. The human element (Liveware) describes team work. It is at the centre of the aviation system. The model thus characterises the functioning of interfaces between the various modules (the human component, man-man interactions, man-machine/systems interactions, man-support system/help interactions, man-environment interactions).

3 International Civil Aviation Organisation.

4 European Civil Aviation Conference.

5 Global Aviation Information Network. Since 1996, the GAIN initiative has aimed to promote the gathering and sharing of information in the aviation community on a worldwide basis.

6 Commercial Aviation Safety Team.

7European Co-Ordination Centre for Aviation Incident Reporting Systems.

8 The French wording for CRS is REC.