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22 edito talking point in focus face the future in progress point of view inside skyguide what’s up in the sky

Accident and causesThe BFU’s final report, which

is published on the internet1,described the accident process indetail. It points to causes andframes recommendations to beimplemented to improve safety.The report shows that weakspots in Swiss air traffic controlbore some responsibility for thisaccident. Skyguide is devastatedthat its safety system, with whichit controls the extremely com-plex air traffic on the heart ofEurope every day, failed on thenight of the accident. Evenbefore the accident, skyguide hadextensively expanded its safetysystem. Today it meets all nation-al and international standards.Drawing a clear position

With the long-awaited publi-cation of the final report, claritycould finally be establishedregarding facts and causes, and astop put to the speculation.Skyguide could take up a clearposition regarding the events ofthe accident, its role and the safe-ty recommendations coming outof the report, together with theirimplementation. It has expressedits regret and asked for forgive-ness. At its media conference,skyguide reported on theprogress in safety management. 2

Safety management extendedSkyguide has been extending

its safety management since2001. Immediately after the acci-dent, it set up a Task Force and

introduced a string of measuresto enhance the safe handling ofair traffic in the airspace con-trolled by it. The implementa-tion of the recommendationsfrom its own and external safetyexperts has been occupyingskyguide intensively since theaccident almost two years ago.The BFU’s safety recommenda-tions, too, have been implement-ed or are in the course of imple-mentation.

The measures taken byskyguide included opening upthe Area Control Centre inZurich to the team of expertsfrom Germany and Austria forexamination, and making majorreinforcements to the company’sown safety management. Skyguidealso subjected the STCA (Short-Term Conflict Alert) system,which warns if safety minima arebeing breached, to a close analysisand remedied any shortcomingsdetected.Plea for forgiveness

Skyguide once again extendsits sincere condolences and deepsympathy to the bereaved.Skyguide CEO Alain Rossier asksthe families for forgiveness andassures them that skyguide takeson board the responsibilityestablished in the report.Taking responsibility

Taking responsibility meanscommitting oneself to ensuringthat such a disaster can neverhappen again. For skyguide, this

means meticulously respectingall the BFU’s safety recommen-dations and where this has notalready been done, implement-ing them as swiftly as possible.But taking responsibility alsomeans serving as an example tothe providers, who have joinedforces as an international airtraffic control federation, andshowing where the air traffic sys-tem offers scope for improve-ments to be made. In view of thefact that air navigation servicesin Switzerland, in fact the wholesystem of civil aviation inSwitzerland, have been compre-hensively examined, skyguidecan now face the future in thecertain knowledge that it has

Air traffic control in Europe afterthe Überlingen accidentOn 1 July 2002, a nightmare came true for skyguide. In the air-space controlled by it over southern Germany, a Bashkirian Air-lines Tupolev TU-154M passenger plane collided at 11,000 metreswith a Boeing 757-200 cargo plane belonging to express courierDHL. The accident cost the lives of 71 people. On 19 May 2004, theGerman Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BFU) in Braun-schweig, Germany, published its final report on the Überlingencrash. Time for skyguide to take stock and look into the future.

Flugsicherung in Europa nach demUnfall von ÜberlingenAm 1. Juli 2002 wurde ein Alptraum für skyguide Wirklich-keit. Im von ihr kontrollierten Luftraum über Süddeutsch-land stiessen ein Passagierflugzeug vom Typ TupolevTU-154M der Bashkirian Airlines mit einem Frachtflugzeugdes Typs Boeing 757-200 des Express-Postdienstes DHL in 11 000 Metern zusammen. Bei dem Unglück kamen 71 Men-schen ums Leben. Am 19. Mai 2004 hat die Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchungen (BFU) in Braunschweig(Deutschland) ihren Abschlussbericht zum Flugzeugunglückvon Überlingen veröffentlicht. Zeit für skyguide Bilanz zu zie-hen und einen Blick in die Zukunft zu werfen.

Services de la navigation aérienneen Europe après l’accidentd’ÜberlingenLe 1er juillet 2002, un cauchemar est devenu triste réalitépour skyguide. Dans l’espace aérien qu’elle contrôle au-dessusde l’Allemagne du Sud, un avion de passagers du typeTupolev TU-154M de la compagnie Bashkirian Airlinesentrait en collision avec un avion-cargo du type Boeing 757-200 de la société de transport express international aérienDHL à 11 000 mètres d’altitude. Cette catastrophe faisait 71victimes. Le 19 mai 2004, le Bureau d’enquêtes allemand surles accidents d’aviation (BFU) a publié à Braunschweig sonrapport final sur l’accident aérien d’Überlingen. Skyguide asaisi l’occasion pour dresser un bilan et se tourner versl’avenir.

taken the measures necessary for the development of saferaviation.Safety and error reportingculture clearly reinforced

Since 2001, skyguide hasinvested increasingly in extend-ing the safety and error reportingculture. This work has beenstepped up further since the acci-dent. The implementation of theICAO (SARPs) and Eurocontrolrequirements (ESARRs) is welladvanced now. Skyguide hastaken additional measures toimprove the error reporting culture at all levels in the compa-ny, because it is only where weakspots are consistently highlightedand investigated that safety canbe increased every day.

The measures taken byskyguide include an IndividualResponsibility and EthicalAwareness Program (IREAP)which is conducted company-wide and is designed to furthersharpen human behavioural pat-terns such as taking responsibili-

ty for one’s own actions, self-criticism and safety awareness.With its Safety ImprovementReporting (SIR), skyguide hascreated a reporting system forsafety-related observations andproposed improvements. All staffmembers can use this system –anonymously if they wish – tomake proposals for the improve-ment of safety in the technical oroperational field. A further pro-gram called CIRP (ConfidentialIncident Reporting Program) willallow blame-free reporting ofoperational incidents. However,here in Switzerland, as in otherEuropean countries, we lack thelegal framework. On top of this,skyguide has introduced in theoperational field the so-calledPTC (Proficiency Training andAssessment Concept), whichcorresponds to the Eurocontrolrequirements. It sets new yard-sticks in further training and forthe award of the air traffic con-troller’s licence which is renewedannually. The team work is fur-

ther optimised thanks to theTRM (Team Resource Manag-ement) module. A further meas-ure is the BLiP (Briefing &Learning i-net Platform) project,which allows computer-assistedbriefing of air traffic controllers.The courage to embracetransparency

The experience of this acci-dent was traumatic for everyoneat skyguide and in the interna-tional air traffic control commu-nity, dealing with it has cost a lotof energy and the process is notyet complete. Because safety isnot a state that remains indefi-nitely ensured once it has beenachieved. Safety is the objectiveof our daily work. Transparency,the courage to admit to mistakesand understand them, to makeand take criticism, are thereforenecessary conditions if we arenever to rest upon the laurels ofwhat is assumed to be a highsafety record. That is why we atskyguide are striving, on thestrength of our experience, toachieve an open communicationfield which provides the founda-tions for safety to be constantlyguaranteed. Skyguide feels readytoday to rise to the challenges ofEuropean air traffic control withits increasingly important coope-ration.

Alain RossierCEO

1 http://www.bfu-web.de/berichte/02_ax001dfr.pdf2 Presentation and detailed fact sheet from the media

conference are available on the internethttp://www.skyguide.ch/ueberlingen/

Skyguide feelsready to rise to the challenges

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23edito talking point in focus face the future in progress point of view inside skyguide what’s up in the sky