Aviation Safety Management Systems (ASMS) consultant Andrew Shelley was interviewed on Radio New Zealand today about the low reporting rate for occurrences in the General Aviation sector.
Commenting in response to CAA's statement that data lies at the heart of a good Safety Management System, Andrew noted that evidence suggests only 1-in-5 to 1-in-10 incidents is reported. There are a variety of reasons for this, but a significant one is that many pilots are concerned about potential enforcement action if an occurrence report is filed. The low level of reporting means that CAA does not necessarily have the data that it needs to effectively prioritise investigations or rule making.
One potential solution to the under-reporting problem is for New Zealand to adopt a system similar to that employed in the United States, where a third party (NASA) administers the occurrence reporting system, and provides the regulator (the Federal Aviation Administration) with data that cannot be traced back to any of the parties involved. However, in the event of an accident or criminal behaviour then the full information is passed to the relevant regulatory authority.
Radio New Zealand's print report is
here, and the radio interview is available from Radio NZ
here or from our Dropbox archives
here. The announcer's introduction to the interview is not quite correct, but the interview itself, including comment from CAA Director Graeme Harris, is put together well.
