[Howard Boots]

Stacy,

I am unable to give much real help apart from the Civil Aviation Authority but this review gives a whole new aspect to "scrutiny of place"

Howard

[Paul Dean]

Quite a specialist area and I'll be astonished if there has ever been a local authority scrutiny of such a thing ... but always ready to be proved wrong.

The technical term for an aircraft "near miss"is "Airprox". Using this term will provide a more helpful list of links in Google etc.

There is a mandatory reporting scheme run by the CAA for serious airprox events described here:http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=...ageid=8178 . The site gives a list of reports of airproxes so you can get a sense of the scale of the problem in your area.

The site www.pprune.org is the pilot's rumour network and deals with airproxes - a quick search on the forums there might highlight if there has been a flurry of problems in your area. You'll certainly get a few different perspectives on what causes airproxes, mid air collisions, and how to stop them.

I'd say the approach required, and the people to talk to, would depend very much on:

• whether the airpsace you are talking about is controlled or uncontrolled
• whether the aircraft involved are commercial or private (General Aviation).
  

If you let me know which area you are talking about, if there is a specific airfield involved, and whether you know anything about the type of aircraft concerned, I could probably suggest some ideas for a way forward.

Either way, I'd be fascinated to know what happens with this scrutiny!

[David Collins]

I can only suggest contacting those authorities where there are airports. Our nearest is Cardiff International Airport - which is actually in the Vale of Glamorgan. A good scrutiny contact there is Jeff Wyatt. (JRWyatt@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk)

[Ed Hammond]

Good idea David - I'm sure that authorities like Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing have done work connected to Heathrow - although some of this may be "aircraft noise" - type work.

In terms of near misses, would the Air Accidents Investigation Branch be a good source of information? I think they investigate these kinds of incidents although I'm not sure.

[Paul Dean]

It's the UK Airprox Board (of the CAA) which investigates and reports on airprox incidents:

http://www.airproxboard.org.uk/default.aspx?catid=423

I think the district council originating this query is in Norfolk and it's probable that we are talking about small General Aviation airfields rather than major international ones. But some clarity on this point by the thread initiator would really help.

If it's a small airfield/general aviation then I reckon this would be a brilliant scrutiny to do as one of the positive benefits might be greater understanding between airfields and local communities - much needed in many cases.

All kinds of possibilities could emerge from a common-sense look at this sort of thing. If it's a larger airport thing (eg. Norwich) then it all gets suddenly more complex and technical.

[Nick Beale]

Wouldn't you need to talk to National Air Traffic Services Ltd. (http://www.nats.co.uk/)? It's they who control airspace in general while airports essentially control only take-offs and landings, I think. However, since they were privatised, NATS Ltd. may not feel any obligation to talk to an OSC.

If the near misses involve military aircraft then it'll be the RAF and USAAF Europe that you'd need to approach.

[Tim Bowers]

I reckon NATS will be of no use in this case. For one thing, there isn't any NATS-controlled airspace over Nolfolk below about 16,000 feet and the controlled airspace base is much higher over most of the area. I agree that the RAF may well be a factor - but until we we get clarification ......

There are several general aviation airfields, a smattering of military airfields and Norwich International Airport, most with only relatively small control zones around them - even Norwich Airport control zone is tiny compared to other regions airports. Outside these zones, the vast majority of Norfolk airspace up to to a very high altitude, is uncontrolled. That means pilots can fly alsmost wherever they want - avoiding collisions only by "keeping a good lookout" and/or receiving an optional air traffic service from Norwich or one of the miltary units - the quality of that service (in helping to avoid collisions) depends on how busy they are with other traffic.

Trouble is - the use of a radio or transponder (which makes a plane more detectable by radar or visible to appropriately kitted out aircraft) is not compulsory to fly in this type of airspace.

Public pressure on local airfields elsewhere has led to all kinds of safety and noise improvements - and I wonder whether scrutiny could achieve something really positive here.

[gareth davies]

sacos36 Wrote:I'm trying to find out about how to scrutinise the monitoring of airspace. I'm not sure who the regulator is that monitors airports (the equivalent of the Audit Commission who scrutinises local authorities), I also don't know if any scrutiny on airspace has been carried out before that I could perhaps learn from.

The starting point for me is that we have had reports of aircraft near-misses in our local area and would like to find out why these near-misses are happening and who/how monitoring of airspace can be improved.

Any suggestions or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Stacy

Stacy,

Northumberland used to have an inter authority liaison group (when we were a three tier area) which looked at low flying issues - as I remember (it was before my time working for the authority) it also included representatives of the airport board and the services, since we have Newcastle Airport to the south and a substantial services training area in the county.

Why not start simply by inquiring of the CAA as to their records of incidents?

[Nick Beale]

Nick Beale Wrote:... USAAF Europe ...

Sorry, USAF Europe.

[Paul Dean]

Odd, my last post on this thread seems to have come up as anonymous! Didn't think the system allowed that.