For the busiest traffic area in the Netherlands, separation losses in the Schiphol TMA between Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) traffic are automatically detected ('measured'). Despite the (largely) return of traffic volume in 2022, fewer separation underruns were measured.
The Terminal Maneuvering Area (TMA) Schiphol is the busiest traffic control area above the Netherlands and one of the most important areas of attention in terms of safety. In 2022, no separation undershoot was less than half of the prescribed separation (category A). No target value has been set for this indicator in European regulations.
In addition to the existing reports of occurrences by operational personnel, separation losses have also been automatically detected based on radar data since the third quarter of 2016. This means that the parameter is not dependent on manual notifications. This way we achieve a better reflection of reality for this type of incident.
The classification of the severity of an incident is a result of the investigation into that incident. LVNL uses four severity categories A to D for classification, which are derived from the smallest measured separation between the aircraft. This makes it easier and more objective to apply the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) classification for many occurrences. The lowest categories D and E (separation >100%, 'not determined', or 'no safety effect') cannot logically be shown in the figure with measured separation loss.