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

Passing Audits but Failing Financial Performance

Smaller aviation service providers have adopted a not-so-secret weapon that can provide financial benefits, but they are not using it effectively.

Aviation SMS possesses extremely powerful risk management workflows that can level the playing field for smaller operators with business acumen.

Benefits Not Realized From Aviation SMS Implementations

When the drafting founders of modern aviation safety management systems (SMS) planned to improve systemic aviation safety, these managers understood their industry's predominant attitudes relating to safety vs production.

Management's Absence Creates SMS Adoption Challenges

Many newly-appointed safety managers try to single-handedly push their organization's aviation safety management systems (SMS) to success. Safety managers are hired to perform an ambitious undertaking that is not heartily welcomed by the entire organization.

FAA Part 5 Safety Policy Documentation Compliance

FAA Part 5 compliance for Safety Policy is largely the concern of new aviation SMS implementations for Part 121 operators.

An aviation safety management system (SMS) is logically broken up into components and elements. This logical arrangement makes it easier for safety professionals to organize multiple subsystems within a large, interrelated system of elements.

Safety Policy Greatly Affects Safety Culture and Safety Performance

"Safety Policy" is a major asset for building an effective safety culture in aviation safety management systems (SMS). An aviation SMS is a complex system of interrelated components and elements, and "Safety Policy" is one of the four SMS components (or pillars). For a quick review, the four SMS components are:

• Safety Policy;
• Safety Risk Management (SRM);
• Safety Assurance (SA); and

Plan Continuation Bias for the Layman

Several years ago NASA analyzed pilots' actions from 19 airline accidents from the viewpoint of "real-time" - i.e. during the flight and without hindsight bias. NASA found that the primary cause of the accidents was something they called "plan continuation bias."

For those of you who aren't unfamiliar with this concept, the premise is this: when you have "someplace to get to" you tend to ignore your environment.

Procedures at Heart of Aviation Safety Management

I currently just finished my freshman year at San Diego Christian College (SDCC) enrolled as an aviation major seeking a career in commercial aviation. SDCC employs a third party whom they rent aircraft and employ instructors from.

What Is Documentation in Aviation SMS?

In November 2006, the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) mandated that all member states implement formal aviation safety management systems (SMS). Each member state's civil aviation authority (CAA) is responsible for providing oversight to ensure the operators required to implement the aviation SMS comply.

Aviation SMS implementations need to be accounted for in 2 main ways.

Aviation Safety Managers Start With Something

When artists paint on a blank canvas, it allows them to start with nothing and creatively turn it into something. This allows the artist to create a picture without having to change or modify a picture that already exists.

When implementing a Safety Management System (SMS), most Safety Managers do not have the luxury of starting with a blank canvas;

Org Charts Help to Define Accountabilities in Aviation SMS

Safety accountabilities in aviation safety management systems (SMS) implementations outline the bureaucratic structure of organizational safety expectations. Defining accountabilities has the ultimate goal of clearly communicating: