Flight Safety Day at Eindhoven Air Base

EATC is not only involved in Air Transport, but also in the wide field of Aviation Safety. Eindhoven Air Base organized the annual Flight Safety Awareness Day (FSA-Day) for 334. and 336. Squadron and invited also Flight Safety officers to exchange their experience and expertise. A better understanding of national approaches and procedures was the objective to both parties.
The FSA-Day was divided into two programs. The morning program was dealing  with briefings and discussions on specific occasions and items regarding individual flights (KDC-10,C-130 and G-IV. The afternoon program included briefings about Airspace Classification and a Safety Management Systems (SMS).      
To represent the EATC during the morning program of the C-130 fleet  the EATC Head of Deployment Branch - an active C-130 pilot - and an EATC Aviation Safety Officer, a former transport pilot at the 334. Squadron joined the meeting. The program consisted of a briefing about cold weather operations, (precisely de-/anti-icing procedures, holdover-times), ICAO flight plan changes and closed with  a debriefing of a critical emergency procedure (Engine-Fire #1 and shut down) of a RNLAF C-130.
The afternoon program was joined by the Head of the EATC Functional Division and the EATC Flight Safety Senior Officer with his staff, starting with a briefing about the new procedures and changed dimensions in the airspace of Air Base Eindhoven, presented by the Chief Air Traffic Control Officer of Eindhoven Air Base. At the end a briefing  about Safety Management Systems was held by Captain John de Leeuw, an American Airlines pilot, also Manager Operations Safety Programs and Chief Accident Investigator.
 “Looking in the kitchen” of the EATC Partner Nations is supposed to increase communication, cooperation and aims at better understanding of national approaches and procedures: A profit for harmonization and standardization within EATC. In conclusion it can be said, that participating in EATC Partner Nations annual Aviation Safety Days can be highly recommended.