Evidence-based training (EBT)

Following the adoption of:

• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2036 of 9 December 2020 amending Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 as regards the requirements for flight crew competence and training methods and postponing dates of application of certain measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2193 of 16 December 2020 amending Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 as regards the requirements for flight crew competence and training methods, and as regards the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation,

the objective of this Decision is to facilitate the implementation of the newly introduced or amended flight crew training requirements that are intended to improve pilot competencies by updating the associated acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and guidance material (GM).

The present Decision and the adoption of the above-mentioned Regulations are parts of a global safety initiative endorsed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), whose objective is to determine the relevance of the existing pilot training according to aircraft generation. In particular, they constitute a second step in the context of European Union rulemaking actions to implement EBT. The first step was completed in 2015 with the publication of ED Decision 2015/027/R that provided guidance material to allow the implementation of a ‘mixed EBT’ which maintains the current operator proficiency check (OPC) and licence proficiency check (LPC). This Decision completes the second step initiated by the above-mentioned Regulations that amended Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 (Air OPS Regulation) and Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 (Aircrew Regulation) to allow authorities to approve the baseline EBT, which replaces OPC and LPC. This will allow a single philosophy of recurrent training within the airline. EBT is intended to improve safety by enhancing the capability of flight crews to operate the aircraft in all flight regimes by recognising and managing unexpected situations. The EBT concept is designed to maximise learning and minimise formal checking. Further work is foreseen in the context of the activities of RMT.0599 to allow expansion of EBT to the operator conversion course and initial type rating, as well as to other types of aircraft (e.g. helicopters and business jets).

The impact assessment (IA) detailed in NPA 2018-07 and Opinion No 08/2019 showed that the implementation of EBT by the operator on a voluntary basis is the preferred option in regulating recurrent training and checking of flight crew. The IA illustrates that the adopted rules in combination with the AMC & GM issued with this Decision contribute to significant improvement in safety by strengthening the competencies of flight crews while providing a cost-efficient and socially acceptable framework.

AMC & GM to Regulation (EU) No 139/2014 — Issue 1, Amdt 5 | Runway safety

The objective of this Decision is to maintain a high level of safety by contributing to the mitigation of the safety risks associated with runway safety, from an aerodrome’s perspective. Moreover, this Decision aims at transposing the relevant International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) provisions (ICAO Annex 14 Volume I ‘Aerodrome Design and Operations’ 8th Edition; ICAO Doc 9981 ‘Procedures for Air Navigation Services – Aerodromes’ 2nd Edition; ICAO Annex 15 ‘Aeronautical Information Services’ 16th Edition) to the EU regulatory framework, but also at maintaining a level playing field, and ensuring the harmonised implementation of the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 139/2014, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2020/2148, which was adopted following the publication of EASA Opinion No 03/2019.

This Decision amends the Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) and Guidance Material (GM) to Annex I (Definitions), Annex II (Part-ADR.AR), Annex III (Part-ADR.OR) and Annex IV (Part-ADR.OPS) to Regulation (EU) No 139/2014.

The amendments of the AMC and GM cover a variety of areas, such as the authorisation of drivers at aerodromes, and the authorisation, operation and maintenance of vehicles at aerodromes including their marking and lighting. They also cover the area of communications, the control of pedestrians at the aerodrome, and the implementation of the new Global Reporting Format (GRF) of runway surface conditions. Moreover, the amendments to AMC and GM cover also other areas, such as, training and proficiency check programmes, handover of activities and the provision of relevant information, notice to airmen (NOTAM) origination, aerodrome winter operations, aerodrome maintenance, aircraft towing and FOD control programme, as well as changes to existing requirements related to surface movement guidance and control systems (SMGCS).

CS-ADR-DSN — Issue 5 | Runway safety

The objective of this Decision is to update the certification specifications (CSs) and guidance material (GM) for aerodrome design (CS-ADR-DSN) in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) developments and other technical improvements, and to maintain a high and uniform level of safety in terms of aerodrome design.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) publishes Issue 5 of CS-ADR-DSN as a result of the outcome of the public consultation of NPA 2018-14 ‘Runway Safety’ which, amongst others, proposed a limited number of amendments to CS-ADR-DSN which were published, for information purposes, along with Opinion No 03/2019.

The amendments concern the addition of new definitions, in accordance with the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) of ICAO Annex 14 ‘Aerodromes’ Volume I (Amendment 13-B), but also the amendment of definitions in order to ensure consistency with Commission Regulation (EU) No 139/2014, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/401.

Moreover, they reflect the introduction of new provisions in Commission Regulation (EU) Νο 139/2014, as well as amendments to the relevant acceptable means of compliance (AMC) and GM, which necessitate the amendment of the relevant CSs and GM in CS-ADR-DSN for safety reasons (e.g. treatment of markings on closed runways and taxiways, presence of mobile objects on precision runway strips).

In addition, the amendments introduce an additional case where, for runway-safety-related reasons, stopway lights should be provided, addressing also the switch-over time for the secondary power supply of such lights. Finally, they reflect the need to gather all maintenance-related operational provisions in a single regulatory text, in order to facilitate their use by the end users.

Therefore, the limited number of changes will help to ensure further alignment with the ICAO Annex 14 provisions, enhance safety where necessary, and improve readability and usability of the regulatory material.