Lowest airprox numbers in a decade - UKAB publishes latest report
30-Nov-2010 The number of reported airprox incidents involving commercial passenger jets in 2009 hit a ten-year low, the specialist body charged with their investigation said today (an airprox is a situation where a pilot or air traffic controller feels a loss of separation between aircraft may have compromised safety).
The UK Airprox Board (UKAB) said that year-on-year airspace conflicts involving one or more commercial aircraft had almost halved, with only 35 incidents in 2009 compared to 61 in 2008. Of these, only a single incident was judged to be possibly risk-bearing. None were placed in the most serious category - that involving a genuine risk of collision.
Overall, the total numbers of airprox incidents, which also include military and private aircraft, declined in 2009 - down to 147 from 155 in 2008. The data also reveals a slight fall in incidents involving general aviation aircraft - 95 compared to 98 the previous year.
Commenting on the figures the Director of UKAB, Ian Dugmore, said: "It is obviously very encouraging that the number of airprox incidents during 2009 was the lowest for more than 10 years. However, given the low number of events, caution is required in deducing trends from the data. Nevertheless, the reduction in Airprox involving commercial air transport maintains a trend established in previous years."
UKAB also said the low number of incidents involving passenger aircraft could have been affected by the economic climate and the reduction in air traffic in 2009.
UKAB reports, produced jointly for the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Air Force, are principally aimed at UK pilots and air traffic controllers, both civil and military. Their purpose is to promote air safety awareness and understanding by identifying and sharing the lessons arising from UK Airprox incidents.
The bi-annual UKAB reports are distributed in hardcopy and CD format. The latest report, Book 23, as well as previous reports are also downloadable from the UKAB website www.airproxboard.org.uk
Individual Airprox reports are also published on the UKAB website some six to eight weeks after assessment by the Airprox Board.