1. PURPOSE OF OCCURRENCE REPORTING

The sole objective of occurrence reporting is the prevention of accidents and incidents. The purpose of the air traffic incident reporting and handling of the report form is to provide investigatory authorities with as complete information on an air traffic incident as possible and to enable them to report back with the least possible delay to the pilot or operator concerning the result of the investigation of the incident and, if appropriate, the remedial action taken.

2. DEFINITIONS OF OCCURRENCE AND AIR TRAFFIC INCIDENT

2.1 "Occurrence" means any safety-related event which endangers or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person and includes, in particular, an accident or serious incident.

Occurrences are divided as follows:

2.1.1 “Accident" means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which, in the case of a manned aircraft, takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, or in the case of an unmanned aircraft, takes place between the time the aircraft is ready to move with the purpose of flight until such time it comes to rest at the end of the flight and the primary propulsion system is shut down, in which a person is fatally or seriously injured or the aircraft sustains damage or the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible.

2.1.2 "Serious incident" means an incident involving circumstances indicating that there was a high probability of an accident and is associated with the operation of an aircraft, which in the case of a manned aircraft, takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight until such time as all such persons have disembarked, or in the case of an unmanned aircraft, takes place between the time the aircraft is ready to move with the purpose of flight until such time it comes to rest at the end of the flight and the primary propulsion system is shut down.

A list of examples of serious incidents is set out in the Annex of EU Regulation No. 996/2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation.

2.1.3 "Incident" means an occurrence, other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft which affects or could affect the safety of operation.

2.2 "Air traffic incident" is used to mean a serious occurrence related to the provision of ATS such as aircraft proximity (AIRPROX) or serious difficulty caused by faulty procedures, or the lack of compliance with applicable procedures or the failure of ground facilities.

3. OCCURRENCE REPORTING SYSTEM

3.1 The persons listed in article 4 paragraph 6 of EU regulation No. 376/2014 shall report occurrences (including air traffic incidents), which are classified as requiring mandatory reporting in EU Regulation No. 2015/1018 within 72 hours of becoming aware of them, unless exceptional circumstances prevent this:

• through the system established by the organisation which employs, contracts or uses the services of the reporter or, failing that,

• through the system established by the EU Member State of establishment of their organisation, or

• by the EU Member State which issued, validated or converted pilot's licence, or

• through the system established by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) https://aviationreporting.eu.

Note: The above-mentioned reporting systems may also be used for voluntary occurrence reporting.

3.2 Mandatory occurrence reports shall be submitted by applicable persons or organisations as soon as possible, and in any event no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of the occurrence, to the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency by:

e-mail: SIDD@caa.gov.lv

phone: +371 67830969.

3.3 In the case of an accident or serious incident, any involved person shall notify without delay the Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Bureau by:

phone: + 371 67686266, +371 67288172 (H24)

e-mail: pasts@taiib.gov.lv,vilis.kipurs@taiib.gov.lv

4. AIR TRAFFIC INCIDENT REPORTING PROCEDURES

4.1 Preliminary notification made by radio

During flight, an initial report of an air traffic incident shall be transmitted without delay by radio to the ATS unit with which the aircraft is in contact at the time in order to permit immediate establishments of the facts and should contain the following information:

• aircraft identification (reporting aircraft);

• type of incident. e.g. aircraft proximity;

• time of incident (in UTC), position (Bearing/Distance from NAVAID or LAT/LONG), transponder code;

• own aircraft:

◦ heading and route,

◦ true airspeed (TAS),

◦ level and altimeter setting,

◦ level flight, climbing, descending,

◦ avoiding action taken/not taken;

• other aircraft (when relevant):

◦ type and call sign/registration (if known). If not known, brief description the aircraft: high, mid or low­wing, rotorcraft, number of engines, markings, colour or other available details,

◦ level flight, climbing, descending or unknown,

◦ avoiding action taken/not taken;

• closest horizontal distance and closest vertical distance to the other aircraft (when relevant);

• aerodrome of first landing and destination.

Note: The form, if available on board, may also be of use in providing a pattern for making the initial report in flight.

4.2 Air traffic incident report form

The Air Traffic Incident Report Form (see Figure 1) is intended for use by a pilot for filing a report on an air traffic incident after arrival or for confirming a report made initially by radio during the flight.

In case of an accident or serious incident, a pilot, after landing, shall notify the Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Bureau (as stated in 3.3), without delay and a completed Air Traffic Incident Report Form (see Figure1.) shall be submitted by the quickest available means to the ARO at the aerodrome where the first landing was made after the incident, in order:

• to confirm preliminary notification of an incident by radio, as mentioned above,

• to report an incident which could not be reported over the radio, or

• to report anincident which did not call for immediate notification at the time of the occurrence.

Note. Where there is no ARO, the report may be submitted to another ATS unit.

Afterwards, the pilot shall report the occurrence in accordance with the requirements described in section 3.

Figure 1.