Tag Archives: FAA Safety & Management Systems Pilot

Sextant Readings Presentation on SlideShare has been viewed over 1,750 times

Posted on by

The Sextant Readings presentation – 8 Steps to an Efficient SMS – has been viewed over 1750 times on SlideShare.

Positioning the “8 steps to an efficient SMS” is intended to clarify some of the mis-information about Safety Management that is rife on the internet.  There is a lot of hype about SMS – usually focused on the particular strengths of a vendor’s offering.

However we view Safety Management in the context that safety is a direct result of  “A management system based on professionalism and safety principles” of an organization.  There are many ‘pieces’ of management system support in the offerings from so-called Safety Professionals.

At Sextant Readings we believe that supporting the management of an organization based on the principles of professionalism and safety is our business.  You can see the presentation here:


IS-BAO Audit Capabilities

Posted on by

Our IS-BAO Audit team consisting of Sextant Readings Solutions registered auditors and those of our business partner Mentair Group.  Mentair Group has been actively involved with IS-BAO since its inception, and has a great deal of experience in Stage I, II, and III recurring audits.  Together with Sextant Readings Solutions experienced auditor team, we offer you experience, knowledge and guidance that are commensurate with your new or mature SMS environment.

Services Offered

Audits

  • IS-BAO Audits
  • Regulatory Compliance Audits
  • Internal Evaluations
  • Quality Assurance Audits
  • Safety Assurance Audits
  • Gap Analysis for SMS Standards, IS-BAO, ACSF or FAA requirements for Part 121
  • Third Party Audits
  • Audits of Client’s vendors
  • Repair Station / MRO (CFR Part 145)
  • Fueling operations
  • Ground handling (FBO)

 Training and Education

  • Safety Management Systems for Executives
  • Safety Management Systems Practical Concepts
  • Safety Manager Training
  • Quality Auditor Training (Initial and Lead)
  • Internal Audit Program Development
  • Safety/Quality Manager Development

Implementation Services

  • Safety Management System (SMS)
  • Quality Management System (QMS)
  • Continuing Analysis Surveillance System (CASS)
  • Internal Evaluation Program (IEP)
  • Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP)

New FAA, OSHA Policy Aims to Protect Aircraft Cabin Crew Members

Posted on by

Aug 23, 2013      OSHA will be able to enforce some safety and health standards not currently covered by FAA oversight.

The Federal Aviation Administration and OSHA have jointly issued a final policy for improving workplace safety for aircraft cabin crew members, agreeing to share enforcement in the skies. FAA’s aviation safety regulations take precedence, but OSHA will be able to enforce certain safety and health standards FAA currently does not cover.

“Safety is our number one priority, for both the traveling public and the dedicated men and women who work in the transportation industry,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “It’s important that cabin crew members on our nation’s airlines benefit from OSHA protections, including information about potential on-the-job hazards and other measures to keep them healthy and safe.”

His DOL counterpart, Secretary Thomas Perez, said the policy “shows the strength of agencies working together and will enhance the safety of cabin crew members and passengers alike. “It is imperative that cabin crew members have the same level of safety assurances they provide the public.”

The FAA news release said aircraft cabin safety issues that fall under OSHA standards include information on hazardous chemicals, exposure to bloodborne pathogens, hearing conservation programs, recordkeeping, and access to employee exposure and medical records. The agencies will develop procedures to ensure that OSHA does not apply requirements that could harm aviation safety. “Our cabin crewmembers contribute to the safe operation of every flight each day,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “We’re taking an important step toward establishing procedures for resolving cabin crew workplace health and safety concerns.

“We look forward to working with the FAA and through our alliance with the aviation industry and labor organizations to improve the safety of cabin crewmembers,” said Dr. David Michaels, OSHA’s assistant secretary.

The FAA and OSHA announcement is here

 

Aviation Hazard, Occurrence and Incident Reporting and Investigation

Posted on by

Safety is the biggest focus within aviation, as a failure to comply in a process or procedure can lead to a catastrophic effect. Worldwide governing bodies, including ICAO, IBAC and IATA, encourage and enforce any company associated with aviation to have an effective safety management solution in place. As the US moves through the SMS rulemaking effort, the FAA has provided guidance for operators including Air Carriers, MRO’s, Manufacturers, Flight Schools, Corporate, Charter and General Aviation.

Throughout industry, it is widely acknowledged that encouraging a non-punitive reporting culture, or “just culture”, is an effective way to ensure quality and safety related incidents are reported – in turn, helping to prevent future occurrences.

As with any module in Q-Pulse, Incident Reporting and Investigation can be configured to manage multiple types of reports. Reports can be automated to include areas such as Bird Strikes, TCAS RA, Airprox, Flight Crew Reports, Cabin Crew Reports, Ground Handling Reports, Confidential Reporting and Voluntary Reporting programs (ASAP, MSAP) and any other type of report required in order to manage safety effectively and efficiently.

Through the Q-Pulse Incident Reporting and Investigation module, established workflows can be defined for each individual report with individual/department notifications of actions required, timescales for completion and escalation policies. Q-Pulse seamlessly integrates with an organization’s email software, ensuring that all individuals concerned with an incident have full visibility of the progress of on-going actions.

Current reports within the organization can be set up with a user friendly report designer, providing a complete overview at any time of safety performance. Furthermore, management can analyze the aggregate incident/occurrence data to identify trends, highlight improvement opportunities and mitigate risks throughout the organization.

For airlines, Q-Pulse Incident Reporting and Investigation can integrate with Flight Data Management (FOQA) solutions allowing the safety department direct access to specific FOQA events that are pertinent to their investigations, streamlining processes and delivering corrective/preventative actions in a timely manner.

The objectives for Incident Reporting and Investigation are to:

  • Capture reported data that reflects an organization’s adherence to regulator’s procedures
  • Provide a simple and effective incident reporting design interface
  • Applies automatically on-going action tracking and communication that replicates a company’s existing workflow

Provides an effective, user friendly overview to aid trend analysis, highlight areas of improvement and manage

Norcal Business Aviation Association (NCBAA) Safety Day Event in San Jose May 2 featured Dr Tony Kern on Professionalism in Aviation

Posted on by

Dr. Tony Kern is the CEO of Convergent Performance; a small, veteran owned “think tank” formed in 2004 and dedicated to reducing human error and improving performance in high risk environments such as aviation,military, healthcare and firefighting. Tony is one of the world’s leading authorities on human performance, has lectured on the subjects of applied human factors and performance improvement for nearly two decades, and is the author of seven books on the subject’

The Norcal Business Aviation Association (NCBAA) members were presented to a day of discussion about Professionalism in Aviation with topics like :

  • The Readiness Equation
  • The Baseline of Readiness: The Mind-Body Link
  • Lifelong Readiness: Continuous Improvement and Deliberate Practice
  • Level III Professionalism

We highly recommend Dr. Tony Kern’s insights for all aviation professionals

 

Sextant Readings Solutions – aviation professionals with focus on Compliance, Quality Management and Quality Assurance, Safety and Risk Management for the Aviation Industry, is an IS-BAO Support Services Affiliate and IS-BAO safety consultant and Auditor

Airline Safety System Comes to Helicopter Sector

Posted on by

Reported May 2 2013, the FAA is expanding the safety data collection capabilities of The Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system with the move to open the program to Helicopter operators.  With the proven success of ASIAS in reducing accident rates in commercial air space operations, we believe that the ASIAS capabilities will help helicopter operators achieve measurable safety improvements.

Source:  Aviation International News » May 2013

by  Mark Huber

May 2, 2013, 5:35 AM

The FAA is planning to expand a new safety data collection and analysis system beyond scheduled air carriers to all elements of the aviation community, including helicopters. The move comes as the helicopter industry formally acknowledged earlier this year that, while it has made considerable progress, it will likely fall short of the International Helicopter Safety Team’s (IHST) goal of reducing the helicopter accident rate by 80 percent by 2016. Industry efforts to date have resulted in a 30-percent reduction since 2005.

The Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system collects information from a wide variety of sources, including flight data recorders. Initially, when the program began in 2007, thirteen airlines and the FAA joined the initiative. The FAA’s role is non-punitive. Today, membership has grown to 44 airlines representing 96 percent of commercial airspace operations and 131 safety data sources, according to the FAA. The Mitre Corp. analyzes and safeguards proprietary airline data; integrates it with Mitre’s own aviation safety databases covering weather, radar tracks, airspace and traffic and other public data; conducts studies; and builds analysis capabilities. Airline data is shared over Mitre secure servers and includes pilot safety reports and FDR data. Mitre began delivering safety studies generated by the program to the FAA and stakeholders in 2008. The studies had an immediate benefit, including the redesign of airspace in select regions to thwart false Taws alerts. ASIAS also establishes safety measurement benchmarks that allow individual operators to see where they stack up against the industry as a whole.

The data trove collected to date is huge. It includes 125,000 aviation safety action program reports, 10 million flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) reports, and 50,000 air traffic safety action program reports. Although the system is relatively new, to date, seven of the 76 safety enhancements proposed by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (Cast) have been derived from ASIAS data. ASIAS also tracks the effectiveness of those enhancements as well as 51 distinct metrics. Twice annually, 500 airline aviation safety professionals share safety information at closed-door “Infoshare” meetings. Issues discussed are linked to ASIAS for early detection and analysis.

Helicopter Applications

ASIAS is scalable to the helicopter industry, particularly in areas where there is a high concentration of operations such as the Gulf of Mexico, according to several sources familiar with the program. Preliminary discussions have already begun with the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), said Stan Rose, director of safety for the Helicopter Association International (HAI). Morphing ASIAS for helicopters would involve different metrics and data, but similar analysis tools could be used. “The reason the Gulf is attractive is that it is a big enough [data set] and accounts for approximately 25 percent of the helicopter flight hours in the U.S.,” Rose said.

To a certain degree, major operators in the Gulf are already sharing safety data and other information through the HeliShare program and its quarterly meetings, said Stuart Lau, chairman of the IHST’s helicopter flight data monitoring committee. Lau said that current plans are to integrate HeliShare members and their data fully into ASIAS by the third quarter and add major helicopter EMS providers into the group. “The FAA has funded the rotorcraft segment to be included in ASIAS, and we are currently working with operators on memoranda of understanding and other logistical details.” Lau said Gulf operators are a natural starting point because they have “the most mature flight data monitoring programs. It’s really the beginning stages of ASIAS for us and we are going to continue the quarterly HeliShare meetings. So far it has been successful and at every meeting more events are shared operator to operator. Once we get ASIAS involved we will have the opportunity for directed studies.”

NTSB member Robert Sumwalt told AIN he thinks the application of ASIAS to the helicopter industry will add to safety management initiatives and be a good way to prevent data siloing. “If you are just stove piping and not sharing information” accidents can result. “You need to collect, analyze and disseminate the information,” Sumwalt said, adding that “protocols need to be put in place to make sure that information is not being misused. The ASIAS protocols have been vetted. The air carrier industry has been doing this for a number of years. The ASIAS executive board decides the cases it wants to study and queries its members to check their databases. Nobody at the FAA or at Mitre can tap into member databases. It’s been really successful.”

“This is one of the next steps” the helicopter industry must make to further reduce its accident rate, Sumwalt said. “Until it does it is not going to make any appreciable improvement on the accident record until it is willing and able to go to this next step. The IHST effort has been fairly successful, but if they want to continue the uphill climb, they have to go to the next level, which is something like [ASIAS].”

Sumwalt said that for the helicopter industry to hit a plateau in the accident reduction rate is not unusual, based on the airlines’ experience with safety goals set by Cast, widely acknowledged as the model for the IHST, in the 1990s. “Even that model had to move the goal post a couple of times, but they still did a heck of a lot and they still did make a difference. Good safety is good business. ASIAS is a good model to share information in a non-threatening way.

Jet Edge International Enhances Fleet with Addition of Gulfstream GV

Posted on by

Press release  March 28, 2013, 9:03 a.m. EDT

LOS ANGELES, Mar 28, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Jet Edge International, one of the fastest-growing large cabin aircraft       management and charter companies in the U.S., has announced the addition of a Gulfstream GV aircraft with worldwide WIFI. The new addition will compliment the current Jet Edge GV fleet and be solely dedicated to charter. In addition to the GV, Jet Edge will receive a G650 in early 2014, which will also be dedicated to charter.

“Jet Edge is extremely pleased to add another GV aircraft to our fleet. Our fleet growth is a testament to our seasoned operational team, safety systems and internal sales culture. We’re proud to provide our clients with one of the largest fleets of well-appointed Gulfstream aircraft in the world,” said Bill Papariella, president of Jet Edge International.

The new GV has 13 seats and a private aft cabin bedroom suite that includes a large aft lavatory, as well as a walk-in closet. The jet also has sleeping accommodations for three in the forward cabin, a comprehensive full-sized forward galley, forward lavatory, and an extensive entertainment system featuring Air Show and worldwide Wi-Fi. The Jet Edge charter fleet consists of GV, G450, GIVSP, GIV, GIII, and G200 large cabin aircraft located within the United States and China. Jet Edge will also be adding a GIV and GIVSP early in the second quarter of 2013, as well as two new Gulfstream 280s in 2013. Jet Edge moved to a wholesale charter model in mid-2012, which allows the company to serve the broader sales distribution network in the United States and return greater ROI to their aircraft owners

“Our mission since acquiring the company in August 2011 has been to generate a safe, reliable and charter-friendly fleet of large cabin aircraft in strategic locations across the globe. By sticking to the model of ‘like aircraft,’ it provides our sales distribution network with reliability, mechanical recovery and ease of booking, and our owners get unique charter revenue opportunities unlike those available with a ‘home base’ sales approach,” said Papariella.

About Jet Edge International

Jet Edge International, a Bard Capital Company, has quickly become a leader in private aviation and one of the fastest-growing, full-service integrated large cabin jet management and service companies in the world. Jet Edge International offers individuals and companies 365-day-a-year guaranteed access to one of most diverse and state of the art large cabin and super mid-size jet fleets in the world, with unparalleled and award-winning safety programs. Jet Edge International also offers aircraft management, charter management, on-demand charter, aircraft acquisition and sales, and maintenance services. The Jet Edge leadership team’s aviation expertise spans flight operations, charter management, aircraft sales, marketing, and maintenance management. For more information on Jet Edge International, please visit www.flyjetedge.com. SOURCE: Jet Edge International

Trends on Rotorcraft Safety in the current FAA Safety Briefing provides good insight

Posted on by
  • Lee Roskop, an operations research analyst in the FAA Rotorcraft Directorate, has written an excellent article in the current March/April) of the FAA Safety Briefing.

He says “The trend in U.S. rotorcraft accidents in 2012 reinforced the message that the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST), the government, and the rotorcraft industry groups have communicated for years; that is, too many helicopter accidents occur in three industry sectors: personal/private, instructional/ training, and aerial application.”

He also comments that “The data and analysis from 2012 paint a clear picture of the problem.”

The accident trend continues even though IHST, the FAA, other government groups, and the rotorcraft industry have reinforced the message that pilots and operators need to take steps to ensure safer flights.

See the article at What’s Trending in Rotorcraft Safety?

Corporate Flight Department

Posted on by

Sextant Readings Solutions iStock_000009033182LargeThe decision to implement an enterprise-wide Safety Management Information System (SMIS) reflects a significant and highly visible commitment of time and capital to a successful safety culture and sets a framework for the collection, analysis and sharing of safety information.

Organizations are expected to define, document and communicate the safety roles, responsibilities and authorities throughout the organization. The SMIS provides a mechanism to capture the roles and responsibilities of the organization’s members for effective routing and assignment of safety-related tasks and activities.

Key safety personnel must be clearly identified in the organization. The SMIS should enable the free flow of hazard and safety event information to these individuals whether fully identifiable, de-identified or anonymous while providing tools for monitoring the effectiveness of safety risk controls.

Ensuring adequate preparedness is contingent on all participants having rapid access to the most current, up-to-date plans and procedures, effective training and documentation and active testing and validation of the Plan and the organization’s ability to implement it.

SMS documentation and records are extensive, reflecting more than just the organization’s SMS Manual and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). All safety-related documentation needs to be configuration/revision controlled. Key recipients (copyholders) must be assured access to the most current versions and the organization must be able to verify receipt and acknowledgement of key documents and removal of obsolete documents. Records control is also a key concern for safety management as well as for compliance. The SMIS should have the capability monitor and control the currency and status of all key documents and records supporting the safety of the operation.

As the saying goes, “the only constant is change”. Today’s dynamic aviation organizations are constantly bombarded with changes that impact their operations, both internally (mission requirements, economic challenges, fleet mix, employee turnover, reorganizations, etc.) and externally (new customers, regulatory requirements, noise restrictions, and procedures, etc.). The SMIS must be flexible enough to accommodate continuous change while providing a consistent structure and functionality that enhances change management rather than obstructing it. This includes the ability to quickly add and remove resources (people) from the system while capturing and reapplying standardized requirements, automatically within the SMIS.

With change comes the opportunity for continuous improvement and continuous improvement demands change. It’s a continuous cycle. Key to successful improvement is the ability to analyze safety performance and identify gaps or weaknesses with improvement potential. Whether identified through audits and evaluations, data analysis, corrective and preventive actions or management reviews, the SMIS must provide the ability to analyze performance, identify opportunities for improvement and enable the successful introduction of changes into the environment.

Safety communication and awareness is about more than displaying banners and slogans in the break room. Real-time access to critical safety information, delivered to all relevant personnel is a minimum requirement for the SMIS. By engaging all involved personnel, expectations and awareness is raised. A SMS Information Management solution  when fully implemented, it (i) collects safety data; (ii) tracks, reports, and accesses risk: (iii) assigns responsibility for corrective action/ preventive action; and (iv) A SMS Information Management solution analysis capability with real-time graphical presentations. It integrates with your existing email and network environment to provide active notification and escalation communications based on user-defined thresholds. A SMS Information Management solution integrates customer complaint management, supplier management, employees, training and assets into a single data system providing you with an unmatched capability to monitor and manage safety across all of your operations.  A SMS Information Management solution supports voluntary and confidential reporting including ASAP, MSAP, ISAP, RSAP (Air, Maintenance, In-flight and Ramp Safety Action Programs respectively), integrates with FOQA and FRMS (such as Jeppesen’s CrewAlert, enables mobile users, and supports IEP programs.

Unlike other software solutions that focus exclusively on reporting, a SMS Information Management solution is based on the PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT cycle promoted by FAA and ICAO in the Global Aviation Safety Roadmap and ISO for global quality systems. This enables a systematic and holistic approach to Safety Management with a single, central solution that integrates the management and analysis of incidents alongside proactive SMS activities such as internal audit providing effective Safety Risk Management and Safety Assurance.