Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Scenario-based training, enrolling in the Aviation Safety Action Program, adopting a scalable safety management system (SMS), and establishing a safety manager certification standard were among the suggestions offered this week&nbsp;by six safety experts at an NTSB panel on improving the safety of Part 135 operations, a key item on the agency’s "Most Wanted" list of priorities.

 


The FAA has declined to act on the Safety Board’s recommendation to require all Part 135 operators to have an SMS, flight data monitoring, and controlled flight into terrain avoidance equipment, all of which most operators lack, according to the NTSB. The panel focused on ways charter operators can enhance safety&nbsp;and on identifying stumbling blocks in that effort.

 


Jeff Baum, president and CEO of Wisconsin Aviation, labeled “the declining quality of upcoming pilots” as one of the impediments, while Janine Schwahn, Summit Aviation's director of operations, noted that operators cannot freely share information on problem pilots without fearing legal repercussions. Several said that SMS will become mandatory&nbsp;and urged operators to develop their own programs now. “SMS has long not been a requirement to us,” concluded NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt. “We deserve it.”

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