Proactive Flight Saftey

A growing trend in the aviation is an approach to flight safety called SMS ( safety management system). SMS is a way of being proactive rather than reactive toward flight safety and is being promoted by both airlines and regulators alike. In the "old days" if an accident or incident happen, the regulators would simply send in the investigators, make some finding and then issue new rules or regulations to hopefully prevent it from happening again. All good except for one thing, an accident or incident had to happen first which resulted in major damage and more seriously injuries or loss of life.
   

The SMS philosophy is to spot trends, risks or deviations from SOPs (standard operating procedures) in the airline that are occurring which could lead to an accident or incident. By identifying these risks early, hopefully they can be addressed before an accident or incident takes place. The airlines gather this data in numerous ways. The first and most important is through the pilots themselves. Most airlines have a "no repercussion" reporting system that allows pilots to freely report possible safety issues that they see or have experienced. This can be done by reports that pilots can fill out or by anonymous surveys. Another source of seeing possible risks is via the aircraft it's self.  Most modern aircraft have FDA ( flight data acquisition) systems. These systems gather flight parameters during flight that can be downloaded and reviewed. Airlines use certain triggers that can alert them if a flight parameter was exceeded, or the aircraft was in an undesired state. The key to the system is that the the info is de-identified which is crucial in developing trust with the airline's pilots.  The data will just show that it occurred on a flight at a specific airport. The airline can then gather this data, determine the risk involved and develop an action plan to reduce the risk. If the airline determines that there is potential risk, they can then address it by alerting their pilots via information newsletters, bulletins, or SOP changes. The risk can also be addressed in training as well. Airlines will use this data in developing simulator training scenarios that pilots are required to do every 6-8 months. They create scripts which place pilots in situations that will recreate the risks and allow them to recognize them and prevent them.

 SMS does have it's critics, that say it's simply allowing the airlines to police themselves without oversight. They feel that due to the fact airlines are profit driven that they will simply just "sweep" potential issues under the carpet rather than spending the money needed to address them. I agree airlines are profit driven, they have to be, it's a necessity to survive. The other side of it though is that they also need to establish confidence in the flying public and nothing can damage that more than an accident or incident. Nothing can be more damaging to an airline than the public seeing a damaged aircraft in their colors. It is for this reason that most major airlines see the benefit in investing in SMS, in the hopes of avoiding an accident before it happens. Will there be a time when aircraft accidents never happen, of course not, however, I believe the pro-active approach that SMS promotes will go a long way in preventing many.