Each year, business aviation benefits from the Bombardier Safety Standdown, an event which brings safety to the forefront with expert presentations highlighting different aspects of aviation safety. The event represents excellence in safety and provides a true service to the industry that all flight organizations should take advantage of. This year, presentations rallied around the theme “Integrity in Safety,” and while there were many important subjects discussed, a few key topics stood out.
Read about these key topics and a few of the presentations highlighting them below, and you can also:
- Download the slides from presentations such as the APS workshop on an SMS approach to Mitigating the Risk of LOC-I.
- Watch select replays from the event on the Bombardier Safety Standdown website.
1. Mental Health and Human Factors
In his keynote address, Dr. Tony Kern traveled back from the future with a warning to the aviation industry, that mental health is something we need to address. Additionally, the MedAire team presented a workshop on Enhancing Health, Well-Being, and Safety of Aviation Crewmembers.
WYVERN’s Andrew Day discussed the critical role Emotional Intelligence plays in flight operations and safety. And, Kent Stauffer (FLEXJET) discussed having a Just Culture in Human Factors: How to Be Human and Just, which “explored the inner workings of the mind to help discover what contributes to our errors.”
From the messages delivered, it is clear that aviation safety leaders are imploring us to be intentional about addressing mental health and related issues to ensure we have healthy pilots who are aware of the issues plaguing the industry today and trained to deal with mental health and various human factors in a positive and proactive way.
2. Safety Management Systems (SMS)
With the FAA in process of rolling out new SMS rules for business aviation operators, this has been a hot topic in the industry over the last several months. In her presentation on the impending FAA SMS mandate, Madeline Young (Polaris) laid out the FAA process and proposed rule, as well as some action items for companies in anticipation of the new mandate. Additionally, aviation safety expert Jeff Wofford reviewed what an aviation safety program should look like and the basics of an SMS.
APS’s Randy Brooks outlined how Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) is essential for an SMS to truly be effective. A comprehensive SMS must mitigate the number one fatal risk every pilot faces on every flight, Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I). Brooks explained why LOC-I has been historically underestimated as well as details on what must be done to effectively mitigate it.
3. Integrity in Safety
Last but not least, the theme of the Safety Standdown fostered some insightful and profound presentations on the different aspects of integrity and how that quality needs to permeate our personal and professional lives. Presenters challenged the audience to dig deep and ask if we are in aviation to get something, or to give something. Chris Lutat (Convergent Performance) also presented a workshop on practical applications of the virtue that can be put into practice by flight departments.
If you missed the APS workshop on Mitigating the Risk of LOC-I Through Effective UPRT: A Comprehensive SMS Approach, you can download the slides from the workshop and others, and feel free to reach out to APS with any questions.
You can also watch select replays from the event on the Bombardier Safety Standdown website.
Comments: