Story ID: 
Eurocontrol Study Says European ATC Safer 
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: Europe’s skies have become safer since two landmark accidents, according to a new independent survey commissioned by ATC management agency Eurocontrol.
Word Count: 144
Europe’s skies have become safer since two landmark accidents, according to a new independent survey commissioned by ATC management agency Eurocontrol. The report, released Monday, says that the 42 European states surveyed have all “considerably strengthened” their ATC frameworks over the past four years. The accidents that prompted Eurocontrol to implement a strategic safety action plan (SSAP) were an Oct. 8, 2001 crash in which a Citation II collided with an SAS MD-82 on the runway at Milan Linate Airport and the July 1, 2002 midair over Germany between a DHL 757 freighter and a Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 carrying schoolchildren. In both cases, ATC was found to be partly at fault for the accidents. Eurocontrol concedes that while most problems identified in the SSAP have now been addressed, incident reporting and data sharing have not progressed as well, largely due to institutional and legislative issues in the states concerned.