Have we learned enough from Ueberlingen? The challenges of safety improvement in European Air Traffic Management

Johnson, C.W. (2008) Have we learned enough from Ueberlingen? The challenges of safety improvement in European Air Traffic Management. In: EUROCONTROL Annual Safety R&D Seminar, Southampton, UK, 22-24 Oct 2008,

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Publisher's URL: http://www.eurocontrol.int/corporate/public/event/081022_safety_southampton.html

Abstract

This paper identifies the complex ways in which technical, organisational and political constraints shape the decisions and actions taken by national and international safety organisations. In particular, we assess the interventions made by Swiss Federal agencies and by the Air Navigation Service provider (ANSP) following the Überlingen mid-air collision in July 1st 2002. Later sections show that there are strong similarities between the influences that informed their decisions and the factors that directed the work of the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL). We address claims that ‘more should have been done’ in the aftermath of an accident. Often these assertions are made with the benefit of hindsight and neglect the organisational, technical and political constraints that act on national and international bodies. In order to improve our response to major accidents we should, therefore, spend correspondingly less time on blaming regulatory organisations than on working to shape the legislative and political context in which those organisations work.

Item Type:Conference Proceedings
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Johnson, Professor Chris
Authors: Johnson, C.W.
Subjects:Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
T Technology > TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science

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