European Operators FDM forum

• operators,
• operator associations,
• flight crew associations,
• aircraft manufacturers,
• research and education institutions,
• regulators.

If you are interested in a working group of EOFDM, please send a message to ue.aporue.asaenull@tsace.

WG A – Monitoring operational safety issues with FDM

“Define relevant common risks, safety defences and related operational issues to be monitored by FDM programmes (eg inappropriate reactions to TCAS RA, unstabilized approaches, hard landings, etc.) in order to support operators SMS programmes.

The selected operational safety issues will refer whenever possible to ICAO/CAST aviation occurrence categories”

WG B – Programming and equipment aspects

• “Define and test FDM events needed for monitoring operational issues defined by EOFDM WG A;
• Identify useful techniques to investigate flight data, either for automatic analysis (managing bad recordings, defining flight phase, etc) or for manual analysis (data mining, data presentation, correlation with other data sources);
• Define parameters and their characteristics (e.g. sampling rate, recording resolution, accuracy, etc) needed to: define FDM events, conduct data analysis and make flight measurement.
• Investigate aircraft DAR/QAR related issues (data format, parameter sampling rate, data frame layout documentation, aircraft related hardware and software issues);
• Look for ways to improve to improve the interoperability between equipment available on the market, including ground FDM replay and airborne equipment;
• Provide and update an overview of technical solutions (hardware and software) and of their comparative performance.”

WG C – Integration of an FDM programme into operator processes

• To define solutions for the integration of FDM into an operator Safety Management System (SMS)
• To provide guidance that will help an operator to best manage:
• limited resources;
• the relationships with top-management and unions;
• the application of “just culture” or “safety culture” to the use of FDM data;
• the dissemination of the safety teachings of FDM inside the company.
• To identify best practice with regards to data handling:
• during day-to-day operation (transfer from the aircraft to the ground, handling of memory media, etc.);
• on the long term: storage of data in a secure way and de-identification of data.

WG D – Organisation of FDM conferences

• review of proposed presentations,
• preparation of the conference agenda,
• registration management,
• logistics, financing and sponsoring

The EOFDM started with a small group of 10 European operators and EASA, called the pioneer group. This group met face-to-face in February 2011.
The new organisation of EOFDM decided after the January 2012 Conference has replaced the pioneer group by a steering group composed of the leaders of EOFDM working groups.
The steering group leaders are delegates from:
Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Easyjet, Netjet, TAG Aviation, Cranfield University, EASA
The role of the steering group is to:

• Coordinate the EOFDM conferences,
• Maintain the visibility of the activities of the working groups and of the expected deliverables, for EOFDM members and for ECAST,
• Consult EOFDM members on adoption of a document or a recommended action, 
• Liaise with ECAST.

Following this survey, a number of operators have joined the EOFDM.

Presentation of the survey results.

2014: we are looking for presenters at 3rd conference that is envisioned in January 2014. If you would like to propose a presentation, please consult this document.

2013: second conference on 23 January 2013, in Cologne. The presentations of the 2nd EOFDM conference are available here.

2012: first conference on 12 January 2012, in Cologne. The presentations of the 1st EOFDM Conference can be consulted here.

News – 30 April 2013

EOFDM WG A will meet face-to-face on 06 June 2013

EOFDM WG B will meet face-to-face on 09 July 2013

EOFDM WG C will meet in November 2013 (date to be defined)

EOFDM WG D is looking for presenters at next EOFDM conference that is envisioned in January 2014. If you would like to propose a presentation, please consult the call for presentations.

News – 05 February 2013

The second conference of EOFDM took place on 23 January 2013, in Cologne. It brought together 120 delegates from aircraft operators, aircraft manufacturers, research institutions, regulators, flight crew association, etc. The conference webpage can be consulted here.

News – 04 December 2012

The second conference of EOFDM will take place on 23 January 2013, in Cologne. This conference is open for registration until 04 January 2013. More details are available on the event webpage of EOFDM Conference 2013

News – 05 september 2012
EOFDM working group C met on 20 June 2012. There were in total 18 participants from 15 organisations. Participants agreed on a priority task, which is a guidance on FDM Memorandum of Understanding. The group also decided to prepare a survey of operators practice on communication and dissemination of FDM outputs.
EOFDM working group D started preparing the second edition of the EOFDM Conference, which will take place in January 2013 in Cologne. More details will be published on this webpage when it will be open for registration.
Information on the objectives of WGs is available below under the header “Working groups”.

News – 11 june 2012
EOFDM working groups A and B first met in Paris on 23 May 2012. There were in total 20 participants from 16 organisations. Participants agreed on a work programme and a common work methodology. Working group A will focus on identifying undesirable events, their factors, related defenses and recovery means, while Working Group B will review and define solutions to monitor these in FDM data.
Working Group C will first meet in Cologne on 20 June 2012.
Information on the objectives of WGs is available below under the header “Working groups”.

News – 26 March 2012
EOFDM has launched three working groups that will first meet in Paris in May 2012 and in Cologne in June 2012. More information is available below under the header “Working groups”.