Dec. 11, 2015
Acting on a recommendation spelled out by the NTSB in its final report on a Gulfstream accident at Hanscom Field in 2014, NBAA this week initially responded with a plan to analyze the extent of a problem that contributed to the accident, and communicate the results.
The recommendation specific to NBAA is one of five, with three directed to the FAA, and another to the International Business Aviation Council.
“NTSB asked NBAA to work with business aviation flight-operational quality assurance groups to look at pre-departure flight control checks as a proxy for overall procedural compliance,” said Mark Larsen, CAM, senior manager of safety and flight operations, who is coordinating NBAA’s effort. The plan calls for the creation of a project team whose members will come from the NBAA staff, NBAA’s safety committee, industry safety leaders and relevant safety experts.
Read: NBAA Pledges to Respond to NTSB Recommendation from 2014 Gulfstream Accident Investigation.
Each flight-operations quality assurance group participating in the project will analyze its existing data on noncompliance with manufacturer-required routine flight-control checks before takeoff. The project team will aggregate the results to derive the extent of the problem and provide a data-driven foundation for its solution. By collating the results of analysis of different data sources, further opportunities to mitigate the risk can be identified.
The working group will create a report highlighting the collective compliance rate for the manufacturer-required routine flight control checks before takeoff by business aviation operators. The report will also highlight the value of participating in these data analysis programs as a means to proactively analyze and assess risks to business aviation operations.
Individuals interested in participating in the project team are invited to contact Larsen at mlarsen@nbaa.org by Monday, Dec. 21.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.