General (ICAO)

ICAO Annex 19 — Safety Management requires each Contracting State to implement a Safety Management System (SMS). Part of this is a mandatory occurrence reporting system and a voluntary, confidential reporting system (Annex 19 §5.3).

Aim: capture events below the accident/serious-incident threshold whose trend analysis can be used to prevent accidents.

Europe (EASA / EU)

Regulation (EU) 376/2014 on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation governs the EU-wide reporting system.

Mandatory reporting (Art. 4): The following persons must report occurrences that pose a significant risk to aviation safety:

Pilots (PIC and co-pilots),
Persons engaged in design, manufacture, continuing airworthiness, maintenance or operation,
Persons providing radio or air traffic services,
Aerodrome operators,
Ground handlers.

Reporting deadline: within 72 hours of becoming aware of the event (Art. 4(7)).

Which events must be reported? — defined in Regulation (EU) 2015/1018 (List of reportable occurrences):

Engine failure in flight,
Loss of separation,
Runway incursions/excursions,
Severe turbulence causing injury,
Loss of pressurisation,
Fires,
Structural damage,
ATC conflicts,
etc. (extensive list).

Voluntary reporting (Art. 5):

Any other person may report events believed to be safety-relevant but not subject to mandatory reporting.

Reporter protection (Art. 16) — "Just Culture":

Confidential handling of reports.
Disciplinary, prosecution, or damages actions must not be taken solely on the basis of a report — except in cases of wilful misconduct, gross negligence or unacceptable failure.
Data must not be used for purposes other than aviation safety.

European database (Art. 9): All reports are fed into the central European Central Repository (ECR) at EASA.

Distinction from accident investigation (Annex 13 / EU 996/2010):

EU 996/2010 covers accidents and serious incidents (safety investigation).
EU 376/2014 covers safety-relevant occurrences below this threshold (mandatory/voluntary reporting).
For an accident or serious incident, EU 996/2010 applies first; a EU 376/2014 report may additionally be filed, but the accident notification per EU 996/2010 Art. 9 takes priority.

Germany (national)

Central reporting body: The Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung (BFU) is the national body also for EU 376/2014 occurrences.

Reporting platform: Online tool "Webreport" of BFU (https://www.bfu-web.de) or via "European Coordination Centre for Accident and Incident Reporting Systems" (ECCAIRS 2).

72-hour deadline for mandatory reports. Just Culture anchored in FlUUG analogously to EU law.