During the Federal Aviation Administration\u2019s (FAA) Safety\nSummit, held on March 15, general aviation (GA) industry leaders participated\nboth in the opening public session and later in a closed-door breakout session\nto discuss current challenges and improvements needed to enhance the safety of\nGA operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The public session was opened by Department of\nTransportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen\nand National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy. National\nBusiness Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO, Ed Bolen, and other\nindustry leaders then participated in a panel discussion, led by former NTSB\nChair Robert Sumwalt and Acting Administrator Nolen. During this discussion,\nBolen emphasized that GA, which is a vital link in our nation’s transportation\nsystem and economy, is the primary training ground for pilots and technicians.\nAlso, GA is where most safety technologies are first introduced and therefore\ntimeliness and efficiency in the certification process has a direct impact on\nsafety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the afternoon closed-door GA breakout session, General\nAviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) President and CEO, Pete Bunce, and\nFAA Deputy Executive Director of Accident Investigation and Prevention for\nAviation Safety, Warren Randolph, led the discussion which included active\nparticipation from numerous government and industry leaders from the Aircraft\nElectronics Association (AEA), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA),\nCommemorative Air Force (CAF), Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), FAA,\nFlight School Association of North America (FSANA), Helicopter Association\nInternational (HAI), International Council of Air Shows (ICAS), National\nAssociation of Flight Instructors (NAFI), National Air Transportation\nAssociation (NATA), National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO),\nNBAA, NTSB and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past decade, the GA industry has put a strong\nemphasis on advancing and improving safety, which given the significant\nreduction in accident rates has shown to be effective. GA stakeholders outlined\nways to continue to build upon this record and provided insights into how the\nGA community can work with regulators to strengthen the safety of the entire\naviation industry. The GA breakout session participants appreciated the\nopportunity to collaboratively work to identify the opportunities and\nchallenges that must be addressed to bolster the safety of the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the session, Tim LeBaron, NTSB\u2019s Director of the\nOffice of Aviation Safety discussed the need for better collaboration between\nFAA, engine manufacturers and NTSB to improve data gathering on loss of engine\npower investigations with the goal of decreasing the number of undetermined\nevents. He also expressed, that once better data is available, the General\nAviation Joint Safety Committee (GAJSC) should revisit loss of engine power\ndata to explore ways to decrease the accident rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard McSpadden, AOPA Senior Vice President of the Air\nSafety Institute, emphasized that the GA community has made impressive progress\nin safety through NTSB and FAA collaboration to speed up accident\ninvestigations and importing reports immediately into the GAJSC and USHST for\nanalysis. He discussed the co-dependence of the five key elements of GA safety\n\u2013 Culture, Knowledge, Training, Proficiency and Equipment. He further\nemphasized the need to evaluate the cost effectiveness structure of the WINGS\nprogram and the adverse effects of the post COVID experience and knowledge\ndrain across every aspect of our industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sean Elliott, Vice President of EAA Government Affairs,\nnoted that the significant fatal accident reductions in the\nExperimental-Amateur Built aviation community over the past 12 years have been\naccomplished with little to no new regulation and have succeeded due to\noutreach and policy enhancements done collaboratively with industry through\nprograms such as 2014 Additional Pilot, and 2018 Flight Test Manual\ninitiatives. He additionally emphasized that the industry needs more simplified\npathways to incorporate safety enhancing tech in the cockpit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James Viola, HAI President and CEO, called for the\nrestoration of full funding for the FAA\u2019s successful weather camera program.\nThe program\u2019s preliminary budget has been targeted for cuts. Several other\nindustry representatives echoed the need to continue and expand this critical\npreflight planning, situational awareness and aeronautical decision-making\ntechnology, particularly in areas unable to access traditional weather\nreporting sources. Viola also called for improved unity and collaboration with\nadvanced air mobility and drone stakeholders and proposed merging the USHST and\nDrone Safety Team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
ICAS President and CEO, John Cudahy, discussed safety\ninitiatives within the U.S. air show community, including the adaptation of\nsafety management systems (SMS) by the entire air show business, a longstanding\ncollaboration between the FAA and ICAS on a successful pilot evaluation\nprogram, and a new data collection\/analysis program. Cudahy emphasized that the\nair show community has demonstrated that SMS can be used successfully in\natypical circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hank Coates, President and CEO of CAF, spoke about the\naftermath of the tragic B-17 and P-63 midair accident and the recent launch of\nthe Association of Professional Warbird Operators. The vision of this\norganization is to promote professionalism that results in education,\nstandardization and safety methodologies that will foster sustainability,\nmitigate risk and help the Warbird community avoid unnecessary and\nirresponsibly formed regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NASAO CEO. Greg Pecoraro, noted the value of technology to\nsupplement operational safety through expansion of the FAA\u2019s weather camera\nprogram and implementing the use of remote tower systems. Pecoraro noted that\nwidespread introduction of these technologies would significantly increase\nawareness of operational conditions at GA airports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keith DeBerry, NATA COO, applauded FAA efforts to support\ndevelopment and implementation of SMS for the part 135 community, as well as\nthe agency\u2019s continued focus on runway incursions and efforts to address\nworkforce issues across the entire system. NATA believes with existing SMS programs\nfor the FAA and part 121 operators, the impending implementation of airport\nSMS, and the proposed SMS rule for parts 135, 91.147, and 21, the NAS will soon\nreap the benefits of a more comprehensive safety management approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GAMA Vice President of Operations, Safety and Security, Jens\nHennig, who organized the GA breakout session, highlighted the important role\nthat technology plays in providing improved situational awareness for pilots \u2013\nincluding both airborne avionics and ground equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, attendees emphasized the important role of\nexisting voluntary reporting schemes such as the Aviation Safety Reporting\nSystem (ASRS) and Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) to help identify system\nvulnerabilities as well as the industry’s adoption of SMS. At the conclusion of\nthe session, leaders re-emphasized to the FAA the tremendous safety benefit of\ncontinued deployment of weather cameras and the need to actively strengthen the\nindustry and FAA workforce. The acute shortage of designed pilot examiners\n(DPE) in many parts of the country and the need for standardization with the\nDPE ranks was emphasized as of vital importance to the GA community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n