May 4, 2014
Listen to an NBAA Flight Plan podcast about the annual safety summit .
In an operational environment that has seen vast improvements over the past half-century, where will business aviation turn to continue to improve flight safety? The answer may be found in the upcoming Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) Business Aviation Safety Summit (BASS), which takes place May 13 and 14 in Weston, FL. NBAA jointly produces the annual safety summit along with FSF.
“It has been a leading-edge event where the focus isn’t only on what you can take home with you today, but on pushing the bounds of safety exploration in our community, looking for new and perhaps yet-to-be-tested ways we can address common or emerging issues,” said Doug Carr, NBAA’s vice president of regulatory and international affairs.
NBAA Members will speak on a number of BASS panels. NBAA Safety Committee Member Dr. Quay Snyder will explore the real meaning of the term “fitness for duty,” deemed a top safety focus area for 2015. Carr said the term is no longer limited to crew rest or medical certification. Instead, it covers a wide range of other readiness issues, such as how pilots get relief from the common cold.
“There’s a lack of understanding in the aviation community about what over-the-counter medications can mean for pilots,” explained Carr. “For instance, most doctors will say that medications – even those sold without a prescription – are still in your system hours after you take them. In some cases, that can mean you shouldn’t fly for 24 to 36 hours after you take them. And a lot of people in our business just aren’t familiar with that.”
NBAA Safety Committee Chairman Steve Charbonneau will discuss the Aviation Safety Information and Analysis Sharing (ASIAS) program, a collaboration between the aviation industry and the FAA that leverages FAA data, along with proprietary safety data collected by the airlines, information from manufacturers and others to create a big-picture view of operational safety trends. The idea is to help the entire industry proactively identify safety issues using information that has been stripped of identifying references.
“When you’re trying to improve a system where most human causes have been addressed through new technology and better-performing equipment, the new trend is to look forward,” Carr said.
Other BASS speakers will include National Transportation Safety Board Member Robert Sumwalt, who will review the aviation safety record of the year past, and NBC aviation correspondent Tom Costello, who will lead a panel on incident management and emergency preparedness.
On Thursday, May 14, another panel will discuss the factors that surround loss of control.
As many as 300 people from around the world are expected to attend BASS. Learn more about BASS and register today.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.