Dec. 8, 2015
NBAA’s Safety Committee is reaching out to all business aviation personnel for participation in its 2016 Risk Assessment Survey. And this year, the group is making an extra effort to reach out to single-pilot operators, as well as dual-pilot operators who may not function in a traditional flight department arrangement.
“Looking at the responses we received last year, we could see that a lot of them came from larger, more mature flight departments,” said NBAA Safety Committee member Paul Ratte, who is also director of aviation safety programs at United States Aircraft Insurance Group. “While that’s certainly great, and we want that to continue, we’d also love to see some more responses from smaller business aviation operations who might not have as extensive an array of resources to make sure they’re represented in the survey results.”
The survey itself is aimed at collecting safety data on a range of issues, said NBAA Project Manager for Operations Peter Korns.
“Feedback from the daily practitioners of business aviation is a vital part of our analysis,” Korns said. “With that feedback in hand, we can develop the Safety Committee’s top safety focus areas, which is a vital part of NBAA’s overall safety effort.”
The 2016 survey consists of 30 questions, most of which are multiple choice, with just a few “short-answer.” A portion of the questionnaire is split into two-tracks: one for members who operate as single pilots and one for those who operate in a dual pilot environment. This is a notable difference from surveys conducted in the past, Ratte said.
All respondents are asked about issues such as: distractions from personal electronic devices, the percentage of operations dedicated to international flight and personal awareness of safety reports, program issues and risk management activities. Single-pilot operators are asked about their participation in third-party audit programs, as well as discussions within their organization that refer to safety risks and mitigation.
Dual pilot operators are asked about how often they undertake formal aviation training and if they participate in industry safety data sharing programs like ASAP, ASIAS and CFOQA.
More than 360 members took part in the 2015 survey. Key information gleaned from the survey included:
- NBAA members are interested in participating in an ongoing discussions about aviation safety.
- Fatigue is the most frequently mentioned safety risk.
- Business operators need to share more data and collaborate more completely on safety issues.
Participate in the 2016 NBAA Safety Committee Risk Assessment Survey.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.