Near-miss air incidents plummet
New figures from the Irish Aviation Authority show there were just four cases of what are officially described as “air proximity occurrences” last year — a 50% reduction on the number of incidents in 2004 and a sharp reduction on the record number of 19 in 2001.
A total of 65 near-misses with various levels of seriousness have been recorded since 2000.
The IAA has confirmed that there have been 11 incidents during that period when aircraft may have been at risk of a mid-air collision.
Two of those events occurred in 2005. The IAA has not yet released details of the incidents until the completion of final reports which are expected later this year.
However, it is understood that one incident was recorded when a Boeing 737 and Airbus 320 came within 700ft of each other in a holding position north of Dublin Airport.
The standard separation margin between aircraft is generally 1,000ft in altitude and five miles in latitude, although this distance is narrower in airspace near airports.
Around 80% of all recorded near-miss incidents in Irish airspace are not considered to pose any risk to the safety of aircraft.
The seriousness of a near-miss incident is classified according to four different categories. They are:
A — A serious risk of collision.
B — The safety of aircraft may have been compromised.
C — Aircraft proximity but no risk of collision.
D — Insufficient information to determine actual risk level.
Although no official figures are available for 2006, it is understood that there have been four air proximity events this year.
However, they have yet to classified by the Airprox panel which investigates such events.
It consists of representatives of airlines, air navigation services and the Department of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Unit.
The number of such incidents on an annual basis should be falling as most commercial aircraft are now equipped with a TCAS warning system which alerts pilots to a potential collision and instructs them to take evasive action.
In recent years, there has been only one category A incident in Irish airspace in which a mid-air collision was narrowly avoided.
It happened over the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland in November 2001 when an Air France jet and a holiday charter plane with a combined total of over 500 passengers on board were mistakenly set on a collision course due to human error by one of the pilots and air traffic controllers based in Ireland and Scotland.
The two aircraft were less than one minute away from crashing into each other, according to an official report.
Although the IAA does not formally release reports of inquiries into near-miss incidents, a spokesperson said information about such investigations is soon to be published for the first time.
