Oct. 9, 2014
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen told attendees at the 18th annual Bombardier Safety Standdown that while business aviation’s safety record is excellent, it is not perfect and everyone in the industry should continue striving to improve it further.
The Bombardier Safety Standdown, held Oct. 6 to 9 in Wichita, KS, promoted knowledge-based training, along with personal discipline and responsibility, as essential elements of aviation professionalism and safety. The seminar featured subject-matter experts who presented on a range of topics, relating human performance to aviation safety. NBAA has been an organizing partner of the Safety Standdown for the past nine years.
“As part of my responsibilities at NBAA, I go around country advocating for business aviation, telling people who we are and why we are important,” Bolen told attendees. “A key part of that story always begins with our commitment to safety. I tell about our safety approach, culture and record. It is an outstanding story. We have an excellent record, but it is not perfect. Because it is not perfect, we do events like this.”
View Bolen’s remarks at the Bombardier Safety Standdown.
Bolen noted that the top item in the NBAA Safety Committee’s list of Top Safety Focus Areas is professionalism, “which speaks to who you are, how you approach everything you do.” He added that the NBAA Safety Committee also emphasizes the importance of every flight department having a strong safety culture. Review NBAA’s 2014 Top Safety Focus Areas.
“Safety is hard and challenging, but it is absolutely critical to future of business aviation,” continued Bolen. “In order for our industry to be successful, we need to be safe, and we need to be perceived as safe. Several high-profile accidents this year remind us that we are not there yet.
“So we meet together and talk about how we can work collectively to reach that goal of perfection,” he added. “We may not get there, but we won’t stop trying.”
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.