Occurrence Analysis and Follow-up in the SMS

From filing to fixing: how Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 turns occurrence reports into analysis, action and follow-up.

Dionysis Kefalas11 Jun 20265 min readFor CAMO, Air Ops and Part-145 staff

Part 5 of 5 in EASA Occurrence Reporting Show parts

1EASA Occurrence Reporting under 376/2014
2Mandatory vs Voluntary Occurrence Reporting
3How to File an Occurrence Report in 72 Hours
4Just Culture and Occurrence Reporter Protection
5Occurrence Analysis and Follow-up in the SMS

Quotes checked on 24 Sep 2026 against EASA Easy Access Rules for Occurrence Reporting (Regulation (EU) No 376/2014) — 27 Sep 2023 revision.

On this page

The report is in the database

The report is filed. On MSN-EXAMPLE-014 the cracked bracket is still on the aircraft until someone decides what changes. Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 does not stop at collection.

Article 13Occurrence analysis and follow-up at national level

1.Each organisation established in a Member State shall develop a process to analyse occurrences collected in accordance with Articles 4(2) and 5(1) in order to identify the safety hazards associated with identified occurrences or groups of occurrences.
Based on that analysis, each organisation shall determine any appropriate corrective or preventive action, required to improve aviation safety.
2.When, following the analysis referred to in paragraph 1, an organisation established in a Member State identifies any appropriate corrective or preventive action required to address actual or potential aviation safety deficiencies, it shall:
(a)implement that action in a timely manner; and
(b)establish a process to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of the action.
3.Each organisation established in a Member State shall regularly provide its employees and contracted personnel with information concerning the analysis of, and follow-up on, occurrences for which preventive or corrective action is taken.
4.Where an organisation established in a Member State which is not covered by paragraph 5 identifies an actual or potential aviation safety risk as a result of its analysis of occurrences or group of occurrences reported pursuant to Articles 4(8) and 5(6), it shall transmit to the competent authority of that Member State, within 30 days from the date of notification of the occurrence by the reporter:
(a)the preliminary results of the analysis performed pursuant to paragraph 1, if any; and
(b)any action to be taken pursuant to paragraph 2.
The organisation shall report the final results of the analysis, where required, as soon as they are available and, in principle, no later than three months from the date of notification of the occurrence.
A competent authority of a Member State may request organisations to transmit to it the preliminary or final results of the analysis of any occurrence of which it has been notified but in relation to which it has received no follow-up or only the preliminary results.
5.Where an organisation established in a Member State and certified or approved by the Agency identifies an actual or potential aviation safety risk as a result of its analysis of occurrences or group of occurrences reported pursuant to Articles 4(9) and 5(5), it shall transmit to the Agency, within 30 days from the date of notification of the occurrence by the reporter:
(a)the preliminary results of the analysis performed pursuant to paragraph 1, if any; and
(b)any action to be taken pursuant to paragraph 2.
The organisation certified or approved by the Agency shall transmit to the Agency the final results of the analysis, where required, as soon as they are available and, in principle, no later than three months from the date of notification of the occurrence.
The Agency may request organisations to transmit to it the preliminary or final results of the analysis of any occurrence of which it has been notified but in relation to which it has received no follow-up or only the preliminary results.

Quoted word for word from Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, Easy Access Rules for Occurrence Reporting, 27 Sep 2023 revision.

Paragraphs 1 to 3 are the organisation's own loop. Paragraphs 4 and 5 are not every analysis, and they are not the same organisations.

Paragraph 4 is the organisation that paragraph 5 does not cover, and it follows occurrences reported under Articles 4(8) and 5(6). Paragraph 5 is the organisation the Agency certifies or approves, and it follows Articles 4(9) and 5(5). The 30 days and the three months in those paragraphs run from the reporter's notification. They do not go to the same addressee.

At Union level

Article 14Occurrence analysis and follow up at Union level

1.The Commission, the Agency and the competent authorities of the Member States shall, in collaboration, participate regularly in the exchange and analysis of information contained in the European Central Repository.
Without prejudice to the confidentiality requirements laid down in this Regulation, observers may be invited on a case-by-case basis, where appropriate.
2.The Commission, the Agency and the competent authorities of the Member States shall collaborate through a network of aviation safety analysts.
The network of aviation safety analysts shall contribute to the improvement of aviation safety in the Union, in particular by performing safety analysis in support of the European Aviation Safety Programme and the European Aviation Safety Plan.

Quoted word for word from Regulation (EU) No 376/2014, Easy Access Rules for Occurrence Reporting, 27 Sep 2023 revision.

Article 14 does not add a task on the shop floor.

A thin report is a thin point in that exchange. The rule on data quality is quoted in the filing guide.

Inside the organisation

At ExampleAir, a line engineer files an occurrence after a recurring fault on MSN-EXAMPLE-014. Similar reports of the same symptom are already there. The organisation analyses them together, identifies the safety hazard, and determines a corrective action. It changes how that component is inspected, carries the change out, and checks whether the fault stops. The people who reported hear what the analysis found. Where paragraph 4 or paragraph 5 covers the case, that paragraph names the addressee and the timing.

Identifying the hazard and assessing its risk inside the management system is the subject of Hazard Identification and Safety Risk Management under EASA, which quotes those rules and works through a risk register.

Avioverse's risk database can hold the hazard and the action. The Safety Database brings together service-difficulty reports and investigation findings, so a symptom can be set beside what has already been recorded elsewhere. Neither database decides the action. The organisation does.