UNITED FOR
SAFETY

Against a backdrop of increasing air traffic, with only 2 category B incidents and no category A incidents, skeyes’ safety performance in 2024 surpassed that of 2023 to become the 3rd best in its history. This result ranks behind the 2022 result, which follows the absolute record of 2016, when no incidents in these significant categories occurred.

The severity of incidents is evaluated by independent experts on a scale from A (severe) to E (no impact on safety). The severity of an incident is determined by the horizontal and vertical separations between the aircraft and by the level of control over the situation.

In over ten years, the number of reported events has increased significantly overall. This does not mean that there are more events than before, but rather that they are increasingly systematically reported in order to be analysed and to be able to draw useful lessons from them for improving safety.

The 62% jump between 2015 and 2016 is also due to Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 introduced at the end of 2015, which expanded the types of incidents to be reporte.

The absolute number of safety-related events is not the only measure of the safety culture.

The content of reports and the fact that reporting an incident has become a well-established reflex are important criteria for assessing the extent to which the safety culture has taken root.

SKEYES’ RESPONSIBILITY

skeyes bore no responsibility in the vast majority of safety-related events. In 2024, the involvement of skeyes was only established for 132 events, which represents 8% of the total number of events reported in 2024 (7% in 2023)./p>

Regarding the severity of these 132 events, 102 were category E and were therefore considered as having no impact on the level of safety. 28 were category C (significant), 2 category B (major) and 0 category A (severe).

THE MOST FREQUENTLY REPORTED EVENTS

In the top three ranking of the most reported events, two places are occupied by events completely outside skeyes’ area of responsibility, but the reporting of which is required under European legislation:

• Interference with wildlife topped the list with 420 events, reflecting the ongoing challenges of managing bird and wildlife activity near airports.
• Technical problems with aircraft, which are almost always reported directly by pilots, came in 3rd place with 127 reports in 2024.

Events with the 2nd highest number of reports were intrusions into airspace by general aviation, military or state aircraft pilots. After almost doubling between 2019 and 2022, the number of incidents of this type is stabilising, with 178 reports in 2024. skeyes’ intensified cooperation and information sharing with its partners should reduce this type of event over the next few years.

In 4th place, there has fortunately been a (further) reduction in the number of incidents involving pilots being blinded by laser pointers. After three consecutive years of increases, this worrying phenomenon, especially as it is mostly intentional, is down 10% with 94 reports (104 in 2023). We hope to see this trend confirmed by the coordinated efforts of skeyes, the airport authorities and the courts.

This especially dangerous and irresponsible behaviour topped the list of incidents from 2010 to 2015, with more than 200 occurrences reported each year.

Deviations from ATC authorisations fell significantly by 20%, from 101 cases in 2023 to 81 in 2024 - a positive trend reflecting better adherence to ATC instructions.

The main mission of skeyes air traffic controllers is to ensure that safe distances between aircraft are maintained. Non- compliance with minimum separations often directly involves air traffic control and can lead to more severe (A and B) incidents. Although there was a 31% increase in the number of such events in 2024 (67) compared with 2023 (51 events), none of them were classified as the most severe (A and B) safety incidents, which means that they had no impact on the overall level of safety.

For 2024, the involvement of skeyes was confirmed for 59 of these occurrences (i.e. 88%), reflecting a trend towards better detection and reporting of this type of incident rather than a decline in safety.

Runway incursions are another type of event that directly relate to skeyes’ safety performance, even though it is only responsible for a tiny minority of such events. In 2024, 37 runway incursions were reported, compared to 44 the previous year and 42 in 2022. skeyes’ involvement insuch events was confirmed for only 10 of these incursions, underlining skeyes’ remarkable performance in ground operations.

Lastly, events linked to drone flights in unauthorised areas have fallen by 69% compared with 2023. Only 8 reports were received, all from pilots. This positive trend highlights the results of tighter regulations and greater user awareness.