SMS is coming big time to ALL levels of aviation, even down to Part 141 flight schools and small Part 135 operators. The coming of SMS to lower levels of aviation (including its non-mandatory application all the way down to personal light GA flying) was the FAASTeam Topic of the Month last month (Jan 23). And no, it’s not just a “paper exercise” – it’s a systemic approach to avoiding accidents in everyday flight operations which has proven effective in improving safety in large operations like the military and major air carriers.
1 reply
Wow, I’m thinking it’s time to investigate getting in on the ground floor of a revenue-generating gravy train by establishing a “consultancy” to investigate the failure of a given SMS, and the failure of the organization which mandated the SMS and signed off on its viability, once something occurs which is outside the scope of the “predictability” of adverse events. Because if there is any consistent truth about aviation, it is that Something Is Gonna Happen.
Is it bad I’m disappointed here? I saw SMS and (mistakenly) thought we were going to have text-based (a.k.a. “SMS”) clearance delivery available without having to pay for higher-end ForeFlight to use it.
I sure would like to see a list of those 250 airports. Maybe mine is in there (KRAL).
1 reply
You can see the list of airports at the following link: https://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_safety/part139_cert/part_139_airport_certification_status_list It doesn’t look like RAL is on the list
Most airports voluntarily implementing SMS are taking around 5 years to gather data for trending. A typical implementation is around 3 years. If you check out the rule (see link below), the FAA is offering different timelines based on the size of the airport so not all will have as much time. I’ve been working with airports since 2008 including a number of FAA pilot studies and we have seen a wide array of benefits including better collaboration with airlines and air traffic by formally assessing safety hazards related to airside construction. Airports in Canada and Europe have been operating an SMS for more than 10 years and have found positive results. Hopefully for most airports this won’t be a paper exercise and they will benefit from the system safety approach. https://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_safety/safety_management_systems/external/part_139_SMS_subpartE_draft
Sounds like the same “sales” number I have been hearing since the SMS craze started. It will be interesting if not entertaining to see all of the comments to the proposed pt 135 and 91K rule. The comment period for pt 135 and pt 91K has already been extended on request of several GA organizations.