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Five ASEAN countries have agreed to share aviation safety data to enhance air safety
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In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the Asia-Pacific, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand will launch a Regional Aviation Safety Data and Information Sharing Initiative
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The initiative will identify aviation safety hazards and trends and develop mitigating measures to better manage safety risks
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An MOU was signed on October 16 during the 59th Directors General of Civil Aviation Conference in Cebu, Philippines to cement the partnership
Five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-countries have agreed to share aviation safety data and information to enhance safety as air travel achieves full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the Asia-Pacific, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand will launch a Regional Aviation Safety Data and Information Sharing Initiative, which aims to to identify safety hazards and trends and develop mitigating measures to better manage safety risks, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said in a statement.
A memorandum of understanding was signed during the 59th Directors General of Civil Aviation Conference on October 16 in Cebu, Philippines to cement the partnership. Signing the MOU were Syamsu Rizal, director of air navigation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation of Indonesia; Dato’ Captain Norazman Bin Mahmud, chief executive officer, Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia; Captain Manuel Antonio Tamayo, director-general, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP); Han Kok Juan, director-general, CAAS; and Suttipong Kongpool, director-general, The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand.
“The cross-border nature of aviation demands that we work together. Through this agreement, we will collectively identify emerging trends and hazards, allowing the continuous development of proactive measures that advance safety goals across the Asia-Pacific. Together, we will ensure safer skies for all,” Tamayo said in a statement.
Under the MOU, the countries agreed to cooperate and regularly share safety data and safety information from reports of safety occurrences to advance the Asia-Pacific Regional Aviation Safety Plan goals to reduce operational risks and enable data-driven regulatory oversight.
They also agreed to support the states’ safety management activities through safety data collection, analysis, and exchange.
The MOU aims to enable the validation of existing safety risks, detection of emerging hazards and risks, and facilitate effective and timely intervention.
The shared data will come from each individual state’s mandatory reporting systems, covering scheduled international and domestic commercial air transport, based on occurrences reported by the states’ service providers, including airlines, air navigation service providers and aerodrome operators.
An initial list of seven categories of safety occurrences has been identified for the initiative, including traffic collision avoidance system – resolution advisory; deviations from air traffic controller assigned altitude; ground proximity warning system or terrain awareness and warning system activations; severe turbulence; windshear; bird strikes; and dangerous goods incidents.
To ensure smooth implementation, the participating countries will jointly develop a Procedural Handbook that will outline working procedures and detail data governance protocols, including data/information security, protection, retention, and destruction.
The initiative was first mooted at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Summit for Aviation Safety held in Singapore in 2023. Since then, the countries have worked together to agree on the list of safety data and information to share in the first instance and the principles and protocols that will govern data confidentiality.
