Analysis of occurrence types showed that the most common occurrence type for accidents and serious incidents for Ground Handling 2015 to April 2025 were:
- Dangerous Goods
- Loading Related
- Foreign Object Debris
With the changes in dangerous goods legislation, there has been an evident downwards trend in reported occurrences as seen in Figure 3 and Figure 4. This results in loading related occurrences being the highest reported occurrence.
Analysing ATSB’s event risk classification (ERC) for occurrences in the sector helps to gain further clarity on the sector risk.
ERC scores the potential risk in an occurrence. Analysis of these occurrences shows that the top 6 occurrence types were:
- Dangerous Goods
- Loading related
- Foreign Object Damage/Debris
- Jet Blast / Prop / Rotor wash
- Other Ground operations
- Other Aircraft loading
| ERC | Accident | Serious Incident | Incident | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very High | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| High | 21 | 1 | 16 | 38 |
| Medium | 17 | 16 | 267 | 300 |
| Low | 3 | 5 | 915 | 923 |
| No accident outcome | 3 | 3 | 1038 | 1044 |
| Total | 44 | 27 | 2236 | 2305 |
Note that an accident with an Event Risk Classification (ERC) score of "No Accident Outcome" indicates a situation where there is no potential for aircraft damage or injuries. This means the event, while still warranting review and possibly reporting, did not lead to any significant safety consequences. It signifies a situation that, while possibly a near miss or an incident, did not escalate into a situation causing harm or damage.
