Status Update: Just Culture at Belgian national level

As mentioned in the previous edition of our Cockpit Flash, BeCA is supporting the creation of a Just Culture framework at national level. Over the course of last year, multiple meetings were held where the Ministry of Transport met with representatives of Belgocontrol, BGATC (Belgian ATC Guild), unions, IFATSEA (ATC engineers) and BeCA. Our association strongly believes that, in order to create a trustful environment, the Ministry of Transport should implement the agreed provisions for a National Body (as required by EU 376/2014) and the setup of a Just Culture forum. This forum should – much like the kitchen-table meetings in the Netherlands – form a bridge between BCAA, airlines, staff representatives (pilots, controllers…) and judiciary, and advise the body on specific events/scenarios. The key word here is operational expertise. Those involved should all be experienced front-liners who have intrinsic knowledge of the the work-as-done evaluating events case-by-case without prejudice or (hidden) agenda.

In our opinion the current proposal could be more detailed, but we are convinced that – once in place – it will be the actors themselves that will make the system work. After all, a Just Culture needs to be lived and cannot be captured in words alone.

Space Weather

Together with Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), BeCA is involved in an European Space Agency (ESA) initiative to support aviation with space weather information. During the first meetings in Brussels (December 2017), pilots from both associations met with experts from the ESA SSA (Space Weather Coordination Centre) and performed initial tests of an online portal and text messaging alerting system which will provide pilots with alerts related to increased solar activity affecting aviation. The results of these tests are now being evaluated.