Brussels, 20/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 October, the European Commission released its Action Plan implementing the recommendations made in July by the Task Force led by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 on 24 March 2015. EASA called, inter alia, for a substantial increase in the medical monitoring of pilots.
Based on the six EASA recommendations (see EUROPE 11362), the action plan is based on four areas of action affecting flying operations, air crew, IT and personal data.
In the section on flying operations, the Commission and EASA particularly emphasise the introduction of the “four eyes in the cockpit” principle, namely, forbidding pilots to be in the cockpit on their own. A mandatory psychological examination is also proposed during pilot training and before they begin flying operations, as well as alcohol consumption spot checks and narcotics screening, as well as the introduction of a pilot support system.
The aircrew should also be subject to more robust medical examinations and spot checks and medical examiners should also be more highly trained. In the third field of action, the Commission and EASA would like a European medical data benchmark to be introduced. In the context of personal data, they are advocating that member states strike the right balance between respecting patients' confidentiality and ensuring passenger safety.
EASA will be responsible for implementing the first three pillars, whilst the fourth pillar will remain outside its remit, given that data protection is a national competency. Nonetheless, the agency is proposing to include the question of personal data in the overall reform of personnel related data included in the Commission's 2015 priorities. It would also like a raft of recommendations by the end of the year.
The announced timetable is very tight. By the end of the year, a seminar on air crew medical aptitude is expected to take place, with the participation of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the International Federation of Airline Pilots Associations (IFALPA) and the European Cockpit Association (ECA). Guidelines will be developed there, as well as ways of implementing them as swiftly as possible. On this point, EASA intends to publish operational guidelines in the first quarter of 2016 with regard to the main points to be included in regulation. It will also provide information to the different aeronautical operators and authorities at a national level, in view of possible binding regulation in the future.
In connection with drug and alcohol checks, the agency is currently holding discussions with the Commission about the proposals it put forward in its 2014 March opinion on “the problematic use of psychoactive substances”. In the context of the pilot support system, EASA would like to publish the directives on the basis of best practices that already exist at the different airlines. In an effort to achieve this objective, the European Commercial Aviation Safety Team (ECAST) has been in charge of helping improve commercial airline transport since 2006 and is expected to publish a document in March 2015, following a meeting on 25 November. Finally, with regard to the European medical data benchmark, EASA intends to set the system by December 2016. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)