Prof. Bruno Franchi was appointed for a further five years as Chairman of the Italian National Agency for Flight Safety (ANSV), the Italian Government investigation authority on civil aviation safety. We grabbed this opportunity to ask him a few questions. What are relations like between ANSV and ENAV?

As we pointed out in our last Staff Report to the Italian Parliament (Staff Report on the activities undertaken by ANSV and on civil aviation safety in Italy - Year 2017), our relations with ENAV continue to be extremely positive, while fully respecting each other's specific roles. In recent times, we have had occasion to meet with ENAV on a much more frequent basis regarding issues of common interest relating to flight safety, with a view to taking more effective preventive measures and thus to improve flight safety as a whole.

Can you give us a few examples of this cooperation between ANSV and ENAV?

Recently, following an increased spate of events in which commercial aviation aircraft have had to land in Italy in urgent or emergency conditions due to low fuel levels on board, ANSV deemed it appropriate to conduct a specific study on fuel management with a focus on understanding the true scale of the phenomenon and any specific critical elements. In relation to this study, which was attached to the aforesaid Annual Staff Report, ENAV provided us with some particularly significant data and information, which made an interesting contribution to ANSV's analysis of the situation. In the same study, ANSV stated, with regard to this issue, that it would be desirable to organise a joint action in Italy between ENAC and ANSV (with each complying with their respective institutional tasks), with a view to identifying any critical issues regarding fuel management and undertaking subsequent preventive measures. In this context, ENAV itself may be able to be a strategic sensor, capable of guaranteeing precise information on all fuel-related events reported by aircraft crews: mayday fuel declarations, minimum fuel declarations, unforeseen diversions to an alternative airport, multiple go-arounds, etc. We would thus be able to have access to a wider field of events and have full knowledge of the phenomenon.

Another example is represented by the ANSV-ENAV technical meetings organised under the provisions of the preliminary agreement pursuant to Art. 12 (3) of Regulation EU no 996/2010, signed on 02.03.2015: these meetings, that from this year onwards will be held on a regular basis, aim, in particular, to allow systematic discussions on certain issues that ANSV considers to be of particular interest in the field of flight safety and regarding which it has already issued some safety recommendations: UPA, airprox , runway incursion , interference in Italian airspace between unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft. We are also looking at additional forms of cooperation, for example in the field of training.

The problem of interference between unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft is a particularly topical one. What steps has ANSV undertaken in this regard?

For some years now, ANSV has been monitoring the situation regarding remotely-piloted aircraft (i.e. drones) in terms of flight safety. In particular, besides having closed the first inquiry concerning an accident that occurred to an APR helicopter involving a mass weighing over 150 kilograms, it has been paying great attention to the issue of interference, in Italian airspace, between unmanned aircraft and manned aircraft. In particular, in 2017 ANSV recorded 45 cases of interference, a figure which is substantially in line with that for 2016. The majority of incidents occurred in the immediate vicinity of airports open to commercial air traffic, or in the vicinity of landing approach paths. In order to mitigate these problems, that are also common in other States, ANSV issued 5 safety recommendations in 2016, addressed to the Italian Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport, ENAC and the Aero Club of Italy, according to their relevant sphere of competence. ANSV was among the first European investigation authorities to issue safety recommendations on this subject, arousing significant interest internationally.