Facts, stats and incidents

2020 reported infringements

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October
CTA (includes airways)	23	9	19	4	20	20	54	29	53	33
TMA	9	9	14	3	3	8	29	15	14	14
CTR	9	6	22	2	20	19	32	26	22	16
ATZ	2	5	7	1	1	9	13	3	12	4
Restricted/Prohibited/Danger Areas	2	2	2	0	4	2	3	5	6	5
Temporary Restricted/Prohibited/Danger Areas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
TMZ	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	4	6
RMZ	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	3	4	2
CAS-T	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total reported airspace infringements	45	32	64	10	48	60	135	85	117	80

2019 reported infringements by month

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December	Total
CTA (includes airways)	29	23	24	40	63	39	59	65	34	26	8	12	421
TMA	13	21	26	21	31	39	37	41	28	17	11	8	294
CTR	9	22	14	34	35	30	34	39	29	16	13	14	290
ATZ	5	4	5	9	12	12	18	13	6	10	2	4	100
Restricted/Prohibited/Danger Areas	2	0	7	3	6	8	8	3	1	11	2	4	52
Temporary Restricted/Prohibited/Danger Areas	1	0	0	1	0	3	3	2	0	2	0	0	17
TMZ	3	4	5	5	7	5	5	6	4	0	1	2	53
RMZ	1	3	2	4	5	10	10	10	2	0	0	1	42
CAS-T	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	3
Total reported airspace infringements	63	77	83	119	159	146	177	179	104	82	37	46	1272

Reported infringements summary: 2017, 2018, 2019

Year	2017	2018	2019
Total reported infringements	1162	1358	1271
CTA (includes Airways)	812 *	706 **	411
CTR	* included in 2017 CTA figure	285	289
TMA	* included in 2017 CTA figure	** included in 2018 CTA figure	294
ATZ	97	130	100
Restricted/Prohibited/Danger Areas	81 ***	87 ***	54
Temporary Restricted/Prohibited/ Danger Areas	*** included in 2017 Restricted/Prohibited/Danger Areas figure	*** included in 2017 Restricted/Prohibited/Danger Areas figure	13
TMZ	57	76	46
RMZ	115	74	48

Airspace infringements: 2017 and 2018 statistics compared

ICG meeting data

Each month the CAA will publish statistical data of infringement Mandatory Occurrence Reports (MORs) processed under CAP1404 by the CAA’s Infringement Coordination Group (ICG). The IGC is a cross-organisational Regulatory Group comprising members of the CAA and one member of the Military Aviation Authority (MAA); details of composition can be found in CAP1404.

The number of MORs processed each month do not correspond numerically to those reported in the same month due to the time taken to collate MOR, Pilot and supporting supplementary reports.

November 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	8	Student (3) Review established no AI occurred (5)
Advisory letter	38
Online tutorial and test	1
Practical training	3	Repeat infringing pilot with multiple infringements in one flight (1) Repeat infringing pilot having previously attended AIAC (1) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other factors (1)
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	4	Infringement with loss of separation (1) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other factors (1) Repeat infringing pilot (2)
Provisional suspensions	0
Ongoing investigations	0
Licence revocation	0

October 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	12	Review established no AI occurred (4) Students (8)
Advisory letter	65
Online tutorial and test	2
Practical training	3	Includes escalatory measure having failed online test (1)
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	13	Single infringement with loss of separation (1) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other factors (7) Multiple infringements in one flight (2) Repeat infringing pilot (3)
Provisional suspensions	3	Pilot infringed whilst operating with an invalid licence (2) Repeat infringing pilot with safety impact (1)
Ongoing investigations	1
Licence revocation	0

September 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	7	Review established no AI occurred (2) Review established faulty transponder/encoder (2) Students (3)
Advisory letter	39
Online tutorial and test	0
Practical training	8
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	10	Single infringement inc Safety impact/other (3) Repeat infringing pilot (4) Multiple infringements in one flight (2) Escalatory measure having failed online test (1)
Provisional suspensions	3	Major infringement with safety aspect (1) Repeat infringing pilot with invalid licence (1) Repeat infringing pilot (3 in less than 2 years) (1)
Ongoing investigations	1
Licence revocation	0

August 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	9	Review established no AI occurred / Transponder error
Advisory letter	40
Online tutorial and test	5
Practical training	6
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	9	Repeat infringing pilot (3) Multiple infringements in one flight (3) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other (3)
Provisional suspensions	0
Ongoing investigations	1	Awaiting regulatory interview
Licence revocation	0

July 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	3	Review established no AI occurred
Advisory letter	44
Online tutorial and test	1
Practical training	0
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	5	Repeat infringing pilot (2) Multiple infringements in one flight (1) Failed online test (1) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other (1)
Provisional suspensions	2	Repeat infringing pilot with multiple infringements (1) Infringement with additional safety issues (1)
Ongoing investigations	1
Licence revocation	0

June 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	1	Student
Advisory letter	26
Online tutorial and test	1
Practical training	2	VFR flight training inc TEM, Planning, Decision Making
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	7	Repeat infringing pilot (2) Loss of separation (2) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other (3)
Provisional suspensions	3	Repeat infringing pilot having previously completed re-training (1) Multiple Infringements in one flight and other safety matters (1) Multiple Infringements in two flights (1)
Ongoing investigations	2
Licence revocation	1

May 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	2	Student (2)
Advisory letter	8
Online tutorial and test	0
Practical training	1	VFR flight training
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	6	Repeat infringing pilot (1) Multiple Infringements in one flight (1) Escalatory measure having failed on-line test (3) Escalatory measure having refused to complete on-line tutorial/test (1)
Provisional suspensions	0
Ongoing investigations	0
Licence revocation	0

April 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	4	Student (1) No evidence of airspace being infringed/ other (3)
Advisory letter	20
Online tutorial and test	4
Practical training	0
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	8	Repeat infringing pilot and loss of separation (1) Repeat infringing pilot (2) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other (4) Escalatory measure having failed on-line test (1)
Provisional suspensions	3	Loss of separation and other safety aspects (1) Third airspace infringement including safety implementation measures (1) Failure to complete prescribed training (1)
Ongoing investigations	0
Licence revocation	0

March 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	4	Student (1) No evidence of airspace being infringed/ other (3)
Advisory letter	27
Online tutorial and test	3
Practical training	0
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	8	Safety Intervention Measures (1) Multiple separate infringements inc Safety impact/other (4) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other (2) Escalatory measure having failed on-line test (1)
Provisional suspensions	3	Repeat Infringer/other safety aspects (1) Provisional Suspension of FI Certificate due to multiple infringements (2)
Ongoing investigations	0
Licence revocation	0

February 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	8	Student (3) Transponder unserviceability confirmed by licenced engineer, no AI (1) No evidence of airspace being infringed/ Other factors (4)
Advisory letter	34
Online tutorial and test	5
Practical training	1
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	11	Loss of Separation (1) Safety Intervention Measures (6) Multiple separate infringements inc Safety impact/other (1) Single infringement inc Safety impact/other (3)
Provisional suspensions	3	Major AI with multiple factors (1) Pilot declined to undertake training (2)
Ongoing investigations	1
Licence revocation	0

January 2020 ICG decisions

Course of action	Number	Summary
Closed with no further action	11	Student (4) Transponder unserviceability confirmed by licenced engineer, no AI (4) Insufficient evidence of airspace being infringed (2) Other factors (1)
Advisory letter	35
Online tutorial and test	3
Practical training	3	Planning/Threat and Error Management requiring 1-1 training
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	8	Loss of Separation (1) Safety Intervention Measures require to maintain safety (6) Safety impact/other (1)
Provisional suspensions	0
Ongoing investigations	0
Licence revocation	0

Summary of ICG decisions made in 2019

Report from Causal Factors Working Group 2019

Course of action	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Closed with no further action	1	2	3	0	7	5	1	9	6	5	3	5
Warning letter (*)	4	12	4	4	7	19	60	74	56	56	51	22
On-line test	2	4	3	1	0	1	1	14	6	8	1	1
Flight training (**)						1	1	2	1	2	0	1
Airspace Infringement Awareness Course (AIAC)	17	10	13	15	23	18	15	22	11	22	12	5
Provisional suspensions	2	3	2	1	3	6	5	4	0	4	2	2
Ongoing investigations	6	3	5	2	2	4	13	8	3	8	1	2
Licence revocation	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

(*) from 1 June 2019, all other pilots subject of airspace infringement MORs are contacted by the CAA to notify them of their airspace infringement and a pilot report requested. Once the investigation is complete, and if an airspace infringement is confirmed, the pilot will be sent a warning letter to close the occurrence.

(**) listed as a separate course of action from June

Causal factor analysis of airspace infringements

Annual reports are produced by a sub-group of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Airspace
Infringement Working Group (AIWG). The group currently includes three people, all independent of the UK
Civil Aviation Authority: two industry experts whose experience covers microlight flying
and instruction, higher performance commercial and IFR flying and instruction alongside a
third member with experience in SEP flying and PhD level work in causal factors.

Read the full report: Report from Causal Factors Working Group 2019

Past reports

Read the full report: Causal Factor Analysis of Airspace Infringements 2018
Read the full report: Causal Factor Analysis of Airspace Infringements 2017

Airspace infringement series: A controller’s story

A series of controller’s stories from NATS

Mark Davenport, an air traffic controller at Swanwick centre, talks about his experience with airspace infringements. Airspace Infringement Series: A controller’s story… (20 May 2019)

Brian Ringrose is an air traffic controller at Swanwick centre. He talks about his experience looking after airspace around Gatwick. Airspace infringement series: A controller’s story (12 April 2019)

Amanda Rhodes is an air traffic controller at Swanwick Centre. She talks about her experience looking after airspace around Luton Airport. Airspace Infringement Series: A controller’s story (22 March 2019)