EASA published its Annual Safety Recommendation Update for 2024 highlighting multiple high-priority recommendations across long-haul operations including go-around control loss, runway excursion on contaminated surfaces, and crew fatigue management in augmented operations. The list incorporates ICAO Annex 6 amendment effective 2026, addressing performance-based navigation requirements for instrument approaches on Category C aerodromes.
ICAO Annex 19 Safety Management Compliance
The State Safety Programme audit cycle by ICAO USOAP completed in many contracting states during 2024, with several European states attaining a high Effective Implementation score. EASA’s harmonisation programme aligns the EU Member State implementations of Annex 19’s SMS framework. Long-haul carriers operating beyond Cat I instrument approaches require Annex 6 Part I Section 4.2 compliance evidence audited annually by the National Aviation Authority.
Runway Excursion and Approach Stability
The EASA EOFDM (European Operators Flight Data Monitoring) Forum published the 2024 update of unstable approach precursors, noting that a substantial proportion of monitored European long-haul carriers exceeded the threshold rate for late configuration changes below 1,000 feet. The forum’s recommended response includes simulator-based unstable approach recovery exercises, increased emphasis on go-around briefing during cruise descent, and CRM-led decision-making frameworks for the captain-first-officer pair during approach.
Pilot Mental Health Initiatives
The EASA Special Condition E-30 on pilot mental health, effective from 2024, requires operators to maintain confidential peer support programmes accessible to all flight crew. Long-haul operations with extended time-zone displacement compound mental health risks. Lufthansa Group’s Mayday Foundation peer programme covers the majority of the major European carrier population. The framework follows the recommendations from the 2015 Germanwings 9525 accident investigation that codified mental health as a primary safety domain.