NATA News

Harding was the director of operations for the U.S. Army’s Southern Command as well as the director for operations for the Defense Intelligence Agency during the Clinton administration.

“The void at the top of the TSA’s leadership structure with the lack of a permanent administrator has lasted too long,” stated NATA President James K. Coyne.  “While we know little about Mr. Harding, NATA and its membership continue to stand ready to work with TSA officials to ensure that security for America’s aviation businesses is reasonable, measured and appropriate.”

With incredible clarity and effectiveness due to its extensive use of interactive graphics, NATA’s Safety 1st Flight Crew Briefing presents pilots with views of runway incursion hot spots, scenarios representing common pilot errors, security procedures, and other information that is critical to safe aircraft operations.

The Newark Liberty International Airport training tool is available to any interested person at no charge by visiting: www.airportflightcrewbriefing.com/newark.

NATA launched the Safety 1st Flight Crew Briefing for Teterboro Airport in June 2008. Since the training tool’s inception, more than 250,000 "hits" have been recorded. “We are thrilled at the industry's acceptance, use and promotion of this effective educational and safety tool," remarked NATA President James K. Coyne. “The Newark Liberty International Airport module is a critical addition to this aviation safety initiative because the airport sees such varied types of aircraft traffic. We are also confident the Newark briefing will make great strides to prove the airport’s commitment to safety to flight crews and members of the surrounding community as the Teterboro module has done.”

Several aircraft operators are requiring their flight crewmembers to complete the Teterboro Airport course as part of their pilot training.

"We have noticed a widespread interest in NATA’s Safety 1st Flight Crew Briefings as word of their importance has traveled to industry conferences and events. Crewmembers and pilots of all experience are discovering that they have much to gain through the Teterboro briefing and they've asked when more will be offered. We are pleased to make the Newark training available at this time and report that the FAA and other airport operators are interested in facilitating the development of additional modules," Coyne said. Airports or aircraft operators interested in developing a similar module should contact NATA Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs Eric R. Byer at ebyer@nata.aero.

View NATA’s Safety 1st Flight Crew Briefings by clicking here.

Nearly 100 on-demand and shared aircraft ownership leaders gathered at the symposium to discuss current and emerging safety challenges and initiatives and learn how to foster a healthy safety culture.

Charlie Priester, chairman of the Air Charter Safety Foundation, began the symposium with a potent reminder of why the foundation and symposium were created in the first place – life is precious. Priester stated, “Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and staff – a fact that is supported by the commitment to safety demonstrated by ACSF members and those in attendance.”

Symposium Highlights

• James Ballough, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) special assistant to the associate administrator for aviation safety, noted that Part 135 industry accidents have decreased as a result of technology improvements and industry cooperation with initiatives such as NATA’s Safety 1st Flight Crew Briefings. Ballough said, “The future is NextGen, SMS and continual safety recommendations including standardization and the review of Part 135 certificates or lack thereof.”
• Lindsey McFarren, president of McFarren Aviation Consulting, offered practical advice for mitigating security concerns. McFarren said that general aviation security should always be kept in perspective and must be approached with common sense – a topic she also addressed in a recent article in NATA’s Aviation Business Journal.
• In an afternoon session, Flight Safety Foundation’s Jim Burin presented statistics on business aircraft safety and listed controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), approach and landing, loss of control and human factors as the prime areas of concern for the foundation. He said that loss of control has replaced CFIT as the highest risk area, but overall business jet accidents have declined over the last decade.
• Dr. Don Arendt, SMS program manager for the FAA dispelled some misconceptions regarding safety management systems (SMS) and discussed emerging issues with SMS implementation. Arendt addressed the FAA’s position on SMS implementation and noted that there are presently no FAA-authorized procedures to accept or approve SMS programs, as the FAA has made no rule on SMS implementation within the United States. Some barriers to successful SMS implementation include operators viewing SMS as a traditional safety program instead of a safety management system, disengaged top management, and poor documentation and integration.
• Ken Gray, director of operations, Executive Fliteways, capped off the first day by sharing his company’s SMS and audit experience. Among Gray’s suggestions for easing SMS implementation and the audit experience is to begin both with comprehensive documentation and implementation of a system of measurement to ensure that you are actually performing the procedures set forth in the documentation. Gray recommended the ACSF pre-audit checklist as an invaluable tool in this process as well as the AVSiS software for safety event reporting and benchmarking. Gray said, “The easiest lessons to learn are those learned by others. We can successfully improve industry safety with honest reporting.” 
• The Honorable Christopher Hart, National Transportation Safety Board vice chairman, began his session stating, “Safety and productivity can be improved simultaneously, if done right.” Collecting, understanding and sharing data is imperative to an operator’s SMS. Hart noted that there was a 65% decrease in the fatal accident rate between 1997-2007 due to proactive safety information programs and system think – all participants working collaboratively, using data to identify problems, prioritize problems, develop solutions and evaluate interventions. 
• An effective and efficient automated risk assessment tool, RA Check was launched by the NATA on the last day of the symposium. RA Check combines a highly comprehensive FAA-endorsed risk assessment tool with the automation necessary to make its use quick, easy, and accurate. Visit www.nata.aero/racheck for more information and a 30-day free trial.

ACSF President James K. Coyne summed up the event, saying, “Instilling a robust corporate safety culture takes a concerted, organized and sincere effort – an effort supported by the ACSF membership, safety programs and initiatives.”

Presentations from the symposium will be made available to the public on the ACSF Web site at www.acsf.aero/symposium.

The BARR program allows aircraft operators to have information regarding their aircrafts’ movements blocked from release to publicly available sources such as aircraft-tracking Web sites. This ability to block the publicly available data on aircraft movement is a vital security component of many aircraft owners’ operations.

It is unknown at this time if the ruling will be appealed.

“In 2000, almost all new single-engine light airplanes were manufactured with conventional analog flight instruments. Today almost all new light planes come equipped with digital flight display avionic systems, also known as "glass cockpits." The enhanced function and information capabilities of these systems represent a significant change and potential improvement in the way general aviation pilots monitor information needed to control their aircraft.”

The NTSB initiated this study to determine if the integration of glass cockpits into small aircraft provided any additional safety benefit. The public meeting will be held in Washington, DC but will also be webcast and archived for review on the NTSB Web site. NATA will provided its members with an overview of the results and recommendations from this study

The live NTSB public board meeting may be viewed here.

The NTSB was last authorized on December 21, 2006, and that authorization (H.R. 5076) expired on September 30, 2008. The introduced bill includes a few additions such as a mandate for the Government Accountability Office to report on improvements in the NTSB’s use of individuals representing a party involved in an accident investigation. In addition, the bill delegates authority to the United States Coast Guard for maritime casualty investigations; however, the coast guard retains the full authority of the NTSB. 

Finally, the legislation authorizes the NTSB to be funded at the following levels; $117 million in 2011; $120 million in 2012; $122 million in 2013; and $124 million in 2014. The timeline for final passage of the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives is unknown at this time.

To view NATA’s Press Release, please click here.

To find out more about ORBAA, please click here.

The Aviation Industry Expo (March 16-18), the only trade show focused on ground support, FBO/aviation services and aircraft maintenance, will bring together over 300 exhibitors to display the most relevant products and services for your business needs. Take time between seminars to access the latest technology products and services, experience hands-on equipment demonstrations and attend networking opportunities on the AIE show floor. Visit NATA Booth #7025 to participate in the Spring Training Week Batting Challenge for a chance to win a Wii!

Returning attendees know that one key to FBO success is lasting relationships. NATA’s 2010 Spring Training Week (March 15-17) and particularly its FBO Success Seminar is host to many opportunities to develop business relationships and friendships that transcend the comprehensive 3-day event. This year to foster the information sharing and relationship building aspects of this seminar further, NATA has added an industry roundtable and reception as well as scheduled three other popular seminars to take place during Spring Training Week.

Build career knowledge, confidence and success with NATA's Line Service Supervisor Training Seminar in Las Vegas. The LSST contains the most comprehensive technical line service and supervisory skills training in one place and at one time. This course also satisfies 14 CFR Part 139 Section 321 for fire safety training certification – an FAA requirement of line service supervisors to be completed every 24 calendar months. With the addition of new speakers and topics, this seminar has something to offer for every line service supervisor.

Also offered at Spring Training Week is NATA’s newly updated Safety 1st Trainer Seminar. Attendees will gain a thorough understanding of the importance of training, how to develop the right training program, and the keys to successful training as well as participate in group learning and practice opportunities. Also, included in this seminar are tips and techniques to teach your supervisor how to maximize the benefits of the PLST Online program in your operation.

The NATA Environmental Compliance Seminar for Aviation Facilities is the only event that focuses solely on environmental compliance issues confronting FBOs and general aviation airports. George S. Gamble, PE, 2G Environmental, LLC will cover a number of topics including, SPCC Regulations, Storm Water Permitting and Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans, Waste Issues and Underground Storage Tanks. New this seminar, NATA Director of Regulatory Affairs Mike France will also provide a brief overview of legislative and regulatory issues that could affect our industry.

All of these valuable educational opportunities and much more await you in fabulous Las Vegas from March 15-18! Visit www.nata.aero/springtraining for more information and a link to register.

As NATA plans for future webinar and seminar topics, we would like to know if Social Media is something your company takes part in or would like to take part in and if there are aspects of Social Media about which you would like to learn more. Please click the link below to participate in a short survey. Also, let us know if there are other topics you would like to see covered. Thank you in advance for your time.   

Click here to take part in the survey.

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