Occurrence reporting is the mandatory and voluntary reporting of safety-relevant events — from airprox encounters to runway excursions — to the organisation and, under EU Regulation 376/2014, onward to the authority within 72 hours. A healthy reporting culture is the fuel of an effective SMS.
Occurrence reporting is the structured reporting of safety-relevant events — from serious incidents to hazards that harmed nothing but could have. In the EU, Regulation 376/2014 makes reporting of defined occurrence types mandatory within 72 hours (to the organisation, then onward to the authority), while also establishing voluntary reporting channels and legal 'just culture' protections limiting punitive use of reports against reporters.
Categories relevant to training organisations include airprox events, runway incursions and excursions, airspace infringements, significant technical failures, and injuries. The organisation must collect, analyse and follow up internally — occurrence reporting is the sensory input of the SMS, not a parallel bureaucracy.
Why it matters for flight schools
Training operations generate exactly the events the system is designed to catch — students infringe airspace, land long, and mis-handle radios at rates professionals don't — and authorities know it, so an ATO reporting suspiciously few occurrences reads as suppression, not excellence. The cultural mechanics decide everything: instructors and students report when reporting is easy and visibly leads to fixes rather than blame. A school that mines its occurrence data finds its next incident before it happens; that is the entire point.
How FlightLogger handles it
FlightLogger embeds occurrence reporting in the operational flow — reports link to the actual flight, aircraft and people, deadlines are tracked, and the safety manager gets structured data instead of hallway anecdotes.
Frequently asked questions
What must be reported and how fast?
Under EU rules, occurrences on the mandatory list — accidents, serious incidents, airprox, runway events, airspace infringements, significant technical failures and more — within 72 hours of becoming aware. Voluntary reporting covers everything else worth knowing.
Can a report be used against the person who filed it?
Just-culture provisions restrict punitive use of reports except in cases of gross negligence or wilful violation. Organisations must define and honour this internally — the first punished honest report ends the reporting culture.