Objective data coming from the aircraft! Great organizations manage what they measure! How is the aircraft being flown? Were there deviations from standard procedures? Was it a long landing or a hard landing? Most importantly, what can we learn from each flight toward improving our performance? Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) is the process of collecting flight data from the aircraft to identify information such as altitude, airspeed, heading, and […]
“I wish I knew that before I flew!” If you hear this in your flight department, it signals a real opportunity to challenge your preflight briefings and explore more effective ways of preparing your crews for their flights. The whole point of doing a preflight briefing is to address and mitigate issues and hazards before you fly. These assessments (generically referred to as FRATs) should inform you of what you […]
This summer, Polaris Aero hosted its third annual VOCUS Vanguard Forum. This VOCUS customer-exclusive event brings together the best safety-minded flight departments, FBOs, and MROs to tackle the most significant challenges, share best practices, and optimize their use of the VOCUS Technology. At Vanguard, in Scottsdale, AZ, attendees learned methods for connecting the dots between theory, regulations, and the practical application of safety through VOCUS. Vanguard attendees also had the chance […]
The FAAs ASAP program is an ideal initiative to consider when developing your overall safety program. By its charter, the goal of the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) is to enhance aviation safety through the prevention of accidents and incidents. Its focus is to encourage voluntary reporting of safety issues and events that come to the attention of employees of certain certificate holders. Enforcement-related incentives have been designed into the […]
Safety Management doesn’t have to be hard, and at Polaris Aero, we strive to simplify it for line personnel and safety managers. If it’s simple, everyone will engage, and if everyone engages, the organization and everyone in safety-sensitive roles will benefit from constant improvement. There’s a lot of buzz around AI in SMS. Many vendors are quick to market “AI-powered” tools without clarifying what the AI actually does, how it […]
Safety management is about addressing hazards and reducing risk to acceptable levels. How we go about doing that is not always formal and with recent events, there is no better time than now to take a step back and assess the way our organizations operate safely. As noted, there have been a lot of highly publicized accidents in our industry in the past couple of months. It’s easy to waive […]
Safety doesn’t happen by accident and with a looming FAA proposal to mandate safety management systems (SMS) for Part 135 and Part 145 operators, charter operators and repair stations should not wait until the last minute to implement a quality SMS program. In our safety-centric industry, what should you look for when choosing a SMS? Steve Bruneau, Vice President of Aviation Services at Polaris Aero, tells us how they are […]