Enhancing Aviation Safety: Expert Insights, Tips, and Updates from SMS-Pro

Steve Potts

Steve Potts, of Swedish-Norwegian descent, was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, where his passion for flying began early. Earning his pilot’s license at 16, he built a 30-year career, flying single-engine Cessnas and twin-engine turboprops across Alaska’s challenging terrains. Starting as a bush pilot, Steve delivered supplies to remote villages, later flying commercial routes for regional airlines in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. With over 15,000 flight hours, he became a respected mentor and advocate for aviation safety. In 2015, Steve joined SMS Pro, a leader in Safety Management System software. As a senior consultant, he develops safety protocols and training, helping aviation organizations worldwide meet international standards. Steve remains active in Fairbanks, occasionally flying and volunteering with youth programs. He holds a Bachelor’s in Aviation Technology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is a certified flight instructor (CFI) and Airline Transport Pilot (ATP), and enjoys skiing and preserving his heritage through traditional cooking.
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Recent Posts

Regulatory Document Review: Must-Know for Aviation SMS Compliance

Posted by Steve Potts on May 20, 2025 4:46:14 PM

 

As a new aviation safety manager, stepping into the complex world of aviation Safety Management Systems (SMS) can feel overwhelming. One of your critical responsibilities is ensuring regulatory compliance with major aviation authorities like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

A cornerstone of this responsibility is conducting a Regulatory Document Review. This process ensures your organization adheres to the latest standards, mitigates risks, and maintains operational safety.

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Topics: 3-Safety Assurance, 2-Safety Risk Management, FAA Compliance

Practical Steps for Accountable Executives to Demonstrate SMS Compliance in Aviation

Posted by Steve Potts on May 18, 2025 6:00:00 AM

 

In the changing world of aviation regulations, safety remains non-negotiable. A robust Safety Management System (SMS) has become the backbone of any organization striving to mitigate risks and ensure compliance with regulatory standards, such as those set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and national civil aviation authorities like the FAA or EASA.

For new safety managers, training staff on SMS concepts can feel overwhelming, especially when tasked with guiding accountable executives—senior leaders responsible for SMS oversight. These executives, often juggling multiple responsibilities, need clear, actionable steps to demonstrate SMS compliance effectively.

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Topics: 4-Safety Promotion, 1-Safety Policy, 2-Safety Risk Management, Risk Management Training, FAA Compliance, Safety Culture

Best Practices: Reviewing Aviation SMS Manuals

Posted by Steve Potts on Aug 28, 2024 2:11:00 AM

When Should I Review Our SMS Manual?

It's very important to review SMS Manuals.

The most common audit finding is that the operator is not conducting operations as stated in their SMS manual.

Furthermore, your manual is only as useful as the information it contains. If the information is out of date, employees will lose trust in it. This undermines the safety culture you've worked to build.

Review your manual at regular intervals. Annual reviews are best practice, but some operators go as long as 3 years between reviews.

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Topics: 1-Safety Policy

SMS First Steps - How to Create an SMS Implementation Plan

Posted by Steve Potts on Aug 21, 2024 5:00:00 AM

What Is an SMS Implementation Plan?

As a safety manager, the implementation plan is your road map to success, but finding guidance on how to create one is difficult at best.

The FAA doesn't provide an implementation plan for the latest Part 5 regulations, but there is an implementation plan suggested by ICAO 9859.

ICAO recommends a 5-year plan with 4 phases of implementation, but this plan may not work well for small organizations or those with many elements already in place.

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Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation

How to Effectively Pitch Aviation SMS to Management - Beginners SMS Series

Posted by Steve Potts on Aug 14, 2024 5:30:00 AM

Sell SMS to Top Management

Securing top management support is critical for a successful aviation Safety Management System (SMS), ensuring compliance with FAA Part 5 and ICAO Annex 19 while enhancing safety for airlines, airports, MROs, and flight schools. These four actionable tips, leveraging SMS Pro tools, help safety managers pitch SMS effectively, overcoming resistance and driving organizational buy-in, as discussed in our management support guide.

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Topics: 1-Safety Policy

5 Ways to Constantly Improve Safety Culture

Posted by Steve Potts on Jul 31, 2024 6:15:00 AM

Why Is Safety Culture So Important?

In many of today's articles about aviation safety management systems, there is something about safety culture. Why? Safety culture ties into every part of your SMS, feeding it as your SMS nurtures your safety culture in return.

It’s a symbiotic relationship, like honeybees and flowers. Each one needs the other to grow and thrive. When your safety culture thrives, your SMS is easier to build and maintain.

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Topics: Safety Culture

7 Steps to Put Aviation Safety Management Systems into Action

Posted by Steve Potts on Jul 10, 2024 7:00:00 AM

Or How to Create an Aviation SMS in 7 Simple Steps

You’re probably familiar with the 4 Phases of SMS implementation outlined by ICAO 9859. Here, I’ll break them down another way, into 7 steps.

For a deep dive into how to use the 4 Phases of SMS implementation, start with How to Complete Phase 1 of Aviation SMS Implementation.

If, for whatever reason, the four phases don’t resonate with you, here is another way to look at building an SMS for aviation service providers. Much like the 4 phases, these are not steps that must be taken in order.

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Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation

Distinguishing Between Responsibility, Authority, and Accountability in Your Aviation SMS

Posted by Steve Potts on Jun 26, 2024 7:00:00 AM

What Is Responsibility?

Responsibility n. the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone. (Oxford Dictionary)

Most of us learned about responsibility as children. Our parents gave us responsibilities like walking the dog or loading the dishwasher. As adults, we’re responsible for paying our bills, finishing our tasks at work, and doing the laundry.

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Topics: Quality-Safety Management

Human Factors: Lack of Teamwork

Posted by Steve Potts on May 1, 2024 2:31:00 AM

Why Is Teamwork Important?

Teamwork is a word used often in the workplace. We’ve all heard that it’s important to work together. Why cover the same ground again?

Lack of teamwork can have serious safety consequences. In aviation, our jobs affect others. Even when we seem to be working on our own, our work ties into other parts of the operation.

Safety is part of being a good teammate and teamwork plays a key role in safety. As such, we all take on responsibility for being good teammates and keeping each other safe.

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Topics: 4-Safety Promotion

3 Best Practices for Your Aviation SMS Manual

Posted by Steve Potts on Aug 5, 2021 4:26:00 AM

The Importance of an Aviation SMS Manual

ICAO requires an SMS manual for many aviation organizations required to abide by their SMS mandate. It is very tempting to gloss over your manual... to get it out of the way and never look at it again.

Manuals aren't sexy, and most of the time, they're boring at best. I've read a lot of manuals that were downright painful.

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Topics: Aviation SMS Implementation, 1-Safety Policy

Site content provided by Northwest Data Solutions is meant for informational purposes only. Opinions presented here are not provided by any civil aviation authority or standards body.

 

 

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