2.3What types of occurrences shall be reported?

2.3 What types of occurrences shall be reported?

As mentioned in section 2.2, the reporting of any safety relevant occurrence should be encouraged. However, for the sake of clarifying legal obligations, Regulation 376/2014 differentiates between occurrences that should always be reported (mandatorily reportable occurrences) and those that may be reported if judged relevant by potential reporters (voluntarily reportable occurrences). i. Mandatory reporting The occurrences to be reported in the context of mandatory reporting systems are those which may represent a significant risk to aviation safety and which fall into defined categories (Article 4(1)). To facilitate the identification of those occurrences, the Commission was required to adopt a list classifying occurrences to be referred to (Article 4(5)). These occurrences to be reported are therefore be listed in the Commission Implementing Regulation 2015/1018 which classifies the occurrences to be reported in the context of mandatory reporting schemes. The occurrences contained in Regulation 2015/1018 are those which have been considered by the legislator as potentially representing a significant risk to aviation safety. Regulation 2015/1018 includes occurrences falling in the four categories mentioned in Regulation 376/2014 as well as those applicable to aircraft other than complex motor-powered aircraft (Article (5)) which are, where appropriate, adapted to the specificities of that aviation sector.

The division in categories of occurrences to be reported provided for in Article 4(1) is established to allow the identification of the occurrences to be reported by the persons designated under Article 4(6). Therefore the division in the various Annexes of the Regulation 2015/1018 intends to support the identification by reporters of the occurrences they are required to report.

Reporting obligations in the context of mandatory schemes are therefore a combination of persons subject to mandatory reporting obligations and occurrences to be mandatorily reported in a specific area of activity. Consequently these reporting obligations are understood to apply as detailed in the diagram below. Diagram 1. Obligations of reporting in the context of mandatory occurrence reporting systems (MORS)

Regulation 2015/1018 in its Annexes I, III, IV.1, IV.2, V.1, V.2 and V.3 states that the structure of the Annex or Section is made to ensure that the ‘‘pertinent occurrences are linked with categories of activities during which they are normally observed, according to experience, in order to facilitate the reporting of those occurrences’’. It highlights that this presentation should not be understood ‘‘as meaning that occurrences must not be reported in case they take place outside the category of activities to which they are linked in the list’’.

ii. Voluntary reporting There is no legal obligation under Regulation 376/2014 for reporting occurrences outside the situations detailed in diagram 1 above. It is nevertheless understood that reporting of any safety relevant occurrence by anyone aware of it should be encouraged. To allow such reporting Regulation 376/2014 imposes a legal obligation on organisations and competent authorities (Article 5) to establish voluntary occurrence reporting systems (VORS). In this context, the voluntary reporting systems notably enable the reporting of (Article 5(4)): any occurrence or safety related information by individuals which are not subject to mandatory reporting (see section 2.2 for the detailed list of persons subject to MOR), this might include the reporting by those individuals of occurrences included in Regulation 2015/1018; any occurrence or safety related information not included in the Regulation 2015/1018 by individuals which are subject to MOR.

It should be understood that while Regulation 376/2014 does not impose the reporting of all occurrences, its objective is to use all available safety data for the improvement of safety. Therefore the reporting of all relevant information should be strongly promoted and front-line professionals should be encouraged to share their experiences.

The legal obligation for organisations and competent authorities to establish voluntary reporting systems aims at supporting the collection of relevant information. Industry organisations, the Member States and EASA are therefore encouraged to promote the reporting of any occurrence, whether or not there is a legal obligation to report it. The Commission has prepared and published promotional material with the view to promoting and encouraging the reporting of safety occurrences. This material is available here. iii. Interaction with other reporting requirements Reporting requirements that exist under other EU rules are aligned with reporting requirements under Regulation 376/2014. This means in practice, that reporting obligations under the Regulation 216/2008 and its implementing rules on one hand and reporting obligations under Regulation 376/2014 on the other hand are compatible. These reporting obligations can be discharged through the use of one reporting channel and should avoid the establishment of two parallel systems (Recital 4). In addition, a person who holds more than one role subject to the obligation to report can discharge all those obligations with a single report. Organisations are encouraged to properly describe this in the organisation manual, to address cases where the responsibilities are taken up on behalf of the organisation.