26th ACI World Operational Safety Subcommittee Meeting – Hong Kong, October 31 – November 2, 2005

Attendance:

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26th ACI World Operational Safety Subcommittee Meeting – Hong Kong, October 31 – November 2, 2005

1.  Andrew Badham - Chairman (BAA)

2.  Paul Van den Eynden – Vice-Chairman (Calgary)

3.  Hyuck Jong Kim (Incheon)

4.  Min Ho Kim (Incheon)

5.  Chan Sung Kim (Incheon)

6.  Dirk Geukens (BIAC)

7.  Ger van Riemsdijk (Schiphol)

8.  H.W. Lau (Hong Kong)

9.  Esther Wong (Hong Kong)

10.  Sergio Innaccone (ADR)

11.  Yves Leichtnam (Aéroports de Paris)

12.  Alan Skennerton (Dubai)

13.  Steen Schroder (Copenhagen)

14.  Xavier Wohlschlag (Geneva)

15.  Thomas Torsten-Meyer (Munich)

16.  Gerhard Gruber (Vienna)

17.  Kenton Sim (ACSA)

18.  Andis Damlics (Riga)

19.  Taha Baharoon (Abu Dhabi)

20.  Klaus-Dieter Stanke (Fraport)

21.  Bryce Payton (Calgary)

22.  S.L. Wong (ACI-PAC)

23.  Yuka Isogawa (ACI-PAC)

24.  Nancy Gautier (ACI-PAC)

25.  James Yi (ACI-HQ)

26.  Thomas Romig - Secretary (ACI-HQ)

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26th ACI World Operational Safety Subcommittee Meeting – Hong Kong, October 31 – November 2, 2005

NOTE: The meeting was held over 2 days of work with a day of tours. The first day was spent working on a series of agenda items and the second day was spent working on the development of the text in the new Airside Safety Handbook. Due to the work load on day two several of the agenda items were skipped over and pushed back to the next meeting of the OSSC.

Agenda Item / Action
1. /

Opening of meeting

Introductions were made around the table – it was noted that a few new and returning long time members were present in the group. These members were welcomed and thanked for their participation.
2. / Approval of report from 25th subcommittee meeting
The report from the 25th subcommittee meeting was approved by all members present. It was noted that most action items had been achieved.
3. / Cooperation between ACI and IATA ATDI
A short overview was given on the airport training capabilities IATA has developed for Safety Management Systems and for Aerodrome Certification. Several of the members were surprised to see that ACI does not provide any airport specific training as would be expected. It was explained that the course are offered by IATA in participation with ACI.
The committee members proposed that ACI should look into offering specific training for airports by airports taking advantage of the capabilities already in place in many locations. It was noted that 7 or 8 out of the airports present have specific training capabilities and would agree to offer these facilities to ACI airports for additional training. The members greed that for the most part IATA has training capabilities that ACI currently does not have but that IATA is very commercial in its training functions and is certainly trying to make additional money off of the courses that it offers.
In addition, the committee agreed that the training on SMS or Certification is coming too late and that to a certain extent both ACI and IATA have “missed the boat”.
4. /

New Guidelines for Committees

An overview of the new guidelines was given to the members. It was noted that the effect these rules would have on the OSSC were minimal as most of them govern the standing committees. It was however noted that all ACI committees are now open to World Business Partners.
5. /

Runway Friction Index

It was noted that there has not been much change or progress in the development of the International Runway Friction Index. Apologies were made to the members on behalf of Angelo Boccanfuso (Transport Canada) who was supposed to present the latest changes in IRFI but was not able to travel to Hong Kong - it was noted that he would be invited to the next OSSC meeting in Paris.
The committee held a discussion on the current situation regarding runway friction indexes and measurement and all agreed that there are too many standards and measurements – it is much more logical to have a single type of measurement to use.
The committee strongly urges ACI to suggest to ICAO that an international standard must be developed. In order to do this ACI is to send a letter to Arun Rao (ICAO) and any relevant counterparts so as to “push” the development of IRFI.
ACTION: Send a formal letter from ACI to ICAO asking for faster progress on the development of the IRFI.
ACTION: Extend an invitation to Angelo Boccanfuso for OSSC 27 – Paris.
/ ROMIG
ROMIG
6. /

New large Aircraft

It was noted that the Aerodrome Design Working Group (part of the ICAO Aerodromes Panel) has taken on the task of redefining the requirements for Code F airports. The initial separation distances required in code F were too high and are now being revised by the ADWG after ACI, IATA and several other organisations requested the review. The figures will potentially be finalised at the next meeting of the ADWG in January.
In addition to this a round table discussion was held on the levels of preparedness of the committee member’s airports for the arrival of the A380. A brief summary of the points made can be found below:
DXB: Modification of 2 parking stands to accommodate the A380 for the Dubai Airshow. More modifications are underway for the arrival of the aircraft with Emirates.
FRA: 2 parking stands at T2 are ready – another 4 will be ready by 2006. The A380 had already came to Frankfurt to conduct compatibility testing – some of the tests carried out included taxiway tests and towing of the aircraft. Frankfurt also conducted tests on ILS interference when the aircraft was in movement.
ACSA: 2 parking stands are ready at Johannesburg and Cape Town as well as the runways and taxiways. One of the issues ACSA is dealing with is the ILS deviation and interference with a large aircraft on the ground. The airports are considering modification and moving of the holding points.
HKG: 5 parking stands are ready. The runway holding points are being moved back to accommodate the ILS interference issue. The big concern at HKG is the flow of passengers through the terminal and also the terminal evacuation plan.
MUC: 5 parking stands are ready. The issue for MUC is fuelling on both wings of the aircraft and ensuring that the fuel pits are in the right places to accommodate the larger size.
ADP: The aircraft already came to Paris – the airport authority conducted FOD checks before and after take off of the plane and had to verify the runway lights were still intact due to jet blast.
INC: A study is being done to see if the runway holding points will need to be moved.
AMS: 2 stands are ready.
7. / ACI Aerodrome Bird Hazard and Wildlife Management Handbook
The new Aerodrome Bird Hazard and Wildlife Management Handbook was presented to the committee – it was noted that the layout was very easy to read and pleasing to the eye - the committee was happy with the document in its final format.
It was explained that the new Airside Safety Handbook and the Apron Signs and Markings Handbook would be developed and printed in the same format in order to create a “trilogy” of OSSC publications. A few examples of the “trilogy concept” were shown to the committee for approval – these included ways to distribute all three manuals together in a single package. It was agreed that this may be an interesting way forward for the OSSC publications.
In addition to the presentation of the new handbook a presentation was made by Incheon International Airport on the importance of developing the land around the airport. At Incheon airport the land that was previously wasteland on the island where the airport is based has been developed to accommodate a golf course. It was noted that since the land has been redeveloped there has been a significant reduction in bird strikes as the airport has found it easier to manage the wildlife in the vicinity.
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8. /
Airside Safety Manual
It was agreed by all that in order to stay consistent with other ACI publications the Airside Safety Manual would be called the Airside Safety Handbook. The committee spent all day rewriting and word crafting the major sections of the Airside Safety Handbook. It was agreed that the version that came out of the OSSC/26 meeting would almost be the final draft. The following actions were agreed upon.
ACTION: Secretary to clean up the draft developed at OSSC/26 with additional information snet by members after the meeting.
ACTION: BAA to provide text for additional sections on Airside Driver Training, Aerodrome Inspections and Helicopter Operations.
In addition, a small working group was set up to work on the finalization of the document. This working group will be composed of BAA, Schiphol, Calgary, ADP, Vienna and ACI. The working group will finalize the text of the manual before sending it out for final comments to the committee. It was agreed that the text would only be submitted one more time to the committee before it is published. The deadlines set up for the finalization of the text are as follow:
·  Working Group to complete and finalise text: December 31, 2005
·  Document to be circulated to full committee: January 1, 2006
·  Committee to respond and make comments: February 1, 2006
·  Document finalized and printed: March 1, 2006
The final text will go to print in early 2006 and be prepared in hard copy for OSSC/27 in Paris. One final action item was required of the committee members.
ACTION: Send Thomas Romig pictures for inclusion in the Airside Safety Manual on relevant safety topics – December 31, 2005. / ROMIG
BADHAM
ALL OSSC
9. / Apron Markings and Sings Handbook
This item was pushed back to the agenda for OSSC 27 (Paris) as there was no time to discuss the subject in depth.
10. / Runway Incursions
The OSSC redeveloped the current policy on Runway Incursions in the ACI Policy Handbook. The major modification was to change the ACI definition on runway incursions to the ICAO definition.
See Annex 1 for updated policy document containing all changes.
ACTION: Submit the updated policy statement to the TSSC for approval. / ROMIG
11. / ACI Apron Safety Survey
A discussion was held on the 2004 Annual Apron Safety Survey and the results were displayed to the committee. It was noted that the number of respondents in 2005 has experienced a major decrease (by approximately 51%) and that the rate of accidents may have increased very slightly.
It was noted that ACI will be working on developing a strategy to increase the response rate in 2006 as well as ensure that the data collected can be used in a more statistically correct manner.
It was also explained that there have been some delays in the development of the full 2004 data report and that it would be printed by the end of November. The document will be sent to all committee members and ACI members as soon as it is printed.
12. / Reports by Members
The reports by members were not given as the meeting ran out of time. It was also agreed that many members discussed some of the current issues during item 6 (NLA).
13. / ICAO Panels and Working Groups
An overview of the ICAO Aerodromes Panel was given. Special attention was paid to the work programmes of each working group and the next steps that have been decided for each. In addition, the participating members of ACI in the work groups were identified.
The presentation used for this overview can be found on the committee website.
14. / IATA Airside Safety Group and other IATA Activities
A brief overview of the new Ground Damage Prevention Programme was given to the committee. It was noted that IATA is pushing hard to reduce ground damage as another means of cost savings for the airlines. The target that has been set by the programme is to reduce damage by 10% before the end of the year. It was noted that the average yearly cost of ground damage for the airlines is around 6 billion USD – this is a high cot and must be reduced.
The committee noted that the programme is a good initiative but that the “human factor” should also be considered in this type of initiative, not just the costs.
15. / ACI Safety Initiatives
ACI is proposing three new safety initiatives to be studied and developed in 2006. The proposals for the initiatives have been developed on request of the governing board which would like to increase ACI’s safety related activities. The initiatives go as follow:
1.  The ACI Global Safety Network: A web based tool that would allow airports to share safety information as well as encourage the development of a “safety culture” across the aviation industry. ACI will administer the website although some of the airports with developed safety cultures will be asked to be champions of the initiative. The site will contain a variety of best practices, guidelines and recommendations on safety as well as a web discussion forum, training materials and other materials related to safety.
2.  The ACI Operational Safety Management Systems Audits for Airports: An audit service offered to airports that will assist them in becoming compliant with ICAO requirements as well as give them an “ACI Label of Quality”. The airports would be subjected to an audit under specific requirements developed by ACI. The audits conducted by ACI would potentially be a substitute to the other multiple audits conducted by other agencies.
3.  Risk Assessments and Hazard Analysis: Assistance to ACI members on developing and conducting risk assessments for a variety of safety related issues. The approach would be to apply a standard system for risk assessments as well as to assist in the development of the required Safety Management System.
The committee considered all three initiatives to be useful, especially the first and the last. The audits were considered possibly redundant as many audits are already carried out at airports. It was noted that it may be a better idea too adopt a “train the auditor” approach where the auditors are trained under certain specific guidelines instead of conducting additional audits. Another approach that was proposed would be to have a system under which ACI would Audit the Auditors.
As regards the web based Safety Network the committee was interested in knowing if some form of Safety Awards could be developed and awarded to airports who achieve specific goals. It was noted that this suggestion will be added to the discussion when developing the Safety Network.
16. / Any Other Business
No other business was introduced.
17. /
Date and place of next subcommittee meetings
The following meeting times and venues have been proposed for OSSC 27 – 30.
·  (OSSC/27) – May 29 – 31, 2006 – Paris, France hosted by Aéroports de Paris
·  (OSSC/28) – February 2007 – Cape Town, South Africa hosted by ACSA
·  (OSSC/29) – September 2007 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands hosted by Schiphol
·  (OSSC/30) – April 2008 – Seoul, South Korea hosted by Incheon

ANNEX 1: Updated Runway Incursions Policy Statement