Interim Report - Introduction - EASA

INTERIM REPORT – OPTIONS FOR CHANGE – ATTACHMENT A
EASA.2009.OP.21
1 Introduction
To assist the Study Team in the selection of options to improve the standards of de-icing /
anti-icing, it was deemed necessary to collate available safety data to determine whether any
clear patterns emerge which highlight contributory and causal factors.
This document includes summaries of data collected. Note that the Terms of Reference of
the Study did not require, nor resource, a Safety Study. The Study Team do not claim that
this document constitutes a comprehensive, or scientifically-based Safety Study; however,
from the data collected, two clear messages can be identified:
− There is a lack of coordinated and detailed safety data concerning de-icing / anti-icing
in respect of human factors. That is, compared to some other safety critical activities
centred on human skills, knowledge and attitude, and relying on procedures and
equipment, such as maintenance personnel and flight-crew.
− The contributory factors to these accidents and incidents deduced from each dataset
are very similar, centring on:
o ineffective communication
o inadequate coordination
o inadequate procedures
o wrongly implemented procedures
o lack of knowledge
o lack of appropriate training
Specifically, these factors often applied to inspections as well as operations.
1.1 Caveat
The collected data has been gathered, and therefore, presented in different formats and will
have different degrees of validity for which the Study Team does not have the resources to
standardise and create comparative descriptors. Also, many of the events occurred outside
EASA Member States and some involved aircraft not usually associated with commercial air
transport. For the events involving non-commercial operations, and those events occurring
more than 20 years ago, the regulatory and safety awareness environments would be
different to those existing today. However, it is data which ought not to be ignored and from
which National Authorities, operators and service providers may be able to draw some
insight to help reduce risk in their own areas of responsibility and operations.
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