Safety
New FAA Safety Outreach to Focus on GA
March 30, 2011
A fresh approach unveiled last week by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials for reducing the general aviation (GA) fatal accident rate, in part through the use of voluntary safety standdowns, was welcomed by business aviation. Each voluntary standdown meeting will focus on a single aviation safety issue.
“Safety is a top priority for our industry, which is why business aviation enjoys an outstanding safety record,” said Doug Carr, NBAA Vice President for Safety, Security and Regulation. “The business aviation community knows first-hand the value of safety standdowns, and we are pleased the FAA is finding value in hosting its own standdown events.”
In addition to supporting voluntary industry initiatives focused on aviation safety, NBAA and its Members have frequently partnered with the FAA to improve safety, including through long-standing representation on the government/industry GA Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) and in spearheading several FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committees (ARCs).
NBAA Member expertise in recent years has informed FAA safety guidance materials, landing performance calculations and the agency’s consideration of safety management systems – all without undue regulation.
According to Melvin Cintron, manager of the FAA’s GA and Commercial Branch under FAA Flight Standards, the new safety outreach – which is intended to help reduce the overall GA fatal accident rate by 10 percent over the next five years – is based on data compiled by the GAJSC. “Data on fatal accidents the GAJSC identified tells us where we’ll get the biggest bang for the buck,” said Cintron.
Nearly all the leading causes of fatal GA accidents identified by the GAJSC involved operations other than business flying. The GAJSC pointed to loss of control in flight, both during initial climb and maneuvering; stalls and spins while maneuvering at low altitudes and controlled flight into terrain during enroute cruise.
Cintron said the new outreach would concentrate on these concerns as they apply to the areas of GA with the highest accident rates, such as homebuilt aircraft. NBAA Members know well that business aviation enjoys a safety record comparable to that for the commercial airlines, as demonstrated in annual studies, conducted by Robert E. Breiling and Associates, of general aviation incidents and accidents.
The FAA’s voluntary standdown meetings will begin April 2 at the Sun’n’Fun Fly-In event in Florida, with 97 additional meetings the remainder of that month. More than 120 of the FAA’s FAASTeam members and 3,000 volunteers will continue the series nationwide for the rest of the year. Topics for the 2011 standdowns will be professionalism, knowledge of aircraft and systems, enroute safety and maneuvering flight.
