Airspace Infringements in European Airspace

Abstract

Airspace infringements (AIs), which can be defined as unauthorised entry of an aircraft in controlled airspace, are one of the primary concerns of the general aviation (GA) in Europe. Such incidents can significantly reduce the distance between different types of air traffic, increasing the risk of a catastrophic mid-air collision. Key issues of AIs in GA were identified in previous studies of EUROCONTROL; however, there are concerns about the efficacy of the analysis of incident reports of AIs. Therefore, this paper proposes a robust safety analysis methodology for AIs involving GA in Europe. It initially reviews the studies conducted by EUROCONTROL in relation to the AIs and then it describes the proposed methodology to find contributory factors of AIs from incident reports. Relationships between these factors are investigated using contingency tables and log linear models and these factors are ranked regarding their frequency of occurrence. Finally, two severity models are developed using the contributory factors. For the purpose of the study high quality data were provided from the Norwegian Air Navigation Service Provider Avinor (ANSP) for the period 2008-2012. The results indicate that the ANSP should focus on GA pilots, flying in the springtime in southern Norwegian airspace to ensure appropriate navigation and communication skills.

Keywords: Airspace Infringement; Incident Analysis; Safety; General Aviation

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100609