Safety Programs

All aviation organizations shall develop and maintain an Aviation Safety Program. The safety program shall encompass all areas of safety as it is related to the organization. This program shall focus on all aspects of safety in respect to the staff members, maintenance personnel, pilots and aircrews, flight operation safety, passenger safety, and the policies and procedures within the organization. If there is not an affective safety program, the results will be divesting. In order for the organization to achieve a successful safety program, they must have a strong safety education and training program. This program will focus on education, training, and sustaining the education and training program.


 Education is the grounding point in any safety program. In order to have an effective safety program, all employees of the company must know something about the program. Employees who require safety education include, but not limited to, maintenance personnel, pilots and aircrew, ground crew, security personnel, station managers, supervisors and executives. The importance with educating the staff members is to inform them of the benefits of a successful safety program, and to bring them on board with the program. The new supervisors, or line managers, will be directly responsible for the safety program when they assume their positions in the company. And the executives will have the authority to dictate the outcome of the safety program through financial control. Nevertheless, everybody in the company has an invested interest in the successfulness of the program. Additionally, other entities aboard the airfield require the same knowledge. For example, contractors shall undergo safety education to inform them of the dangers when working around the airfield.


The company shall require all employees, regardless of position, to attend the safety indoctrination brief. This brief should be during the welcome aboard brief the company officers. The indoctrination should cover company policies, reporting procedures, awards program, hazardous materials, personal protective equipment, airfield safety, airfield emergencies, and occupational health issues. This indoctrination can also be tied in with a tour of the airfield in order to point out areas of concern. If this is not possible, then provide video footage to point out those areas of concern.

In addition to educating employees about the safety program, many employees will require training. Pilots, aircrew, ground personnel, maintenance personnel are among a few that will need additional training.

New pilots and aircrew joining the organization will require training for the aircraft they will be flying. If they have not received a type rating for the aircraft in the company, then the pilots will require training in that aircraft. If the pilots are type rated in the aircraft, but lack the knowledge of the flight management systems aboard the aircraft, training will be required before the pilot becomes involved with flight operations. New pilots and aircrew, as well as senior pilots and aircrew, will need to undergo crew resource management training; pilots and aircrew will require continues training with emergency procedures as well.

Maintenance and ground personnel will require airfield indoctrination. This training will give them the rules and regulations pertaining to airfield operations and will permit them to operate support equipment on the airfield. Support equipment is another training evolution for the maintenance and ground personnel. They must learn how to operate this equipment safely. Maintenance personnel will require training on safe maintenance practices with the equipment in their work spaces. Further training will be required for maintenance personnel on upgrades to aircraft equipment. Addition train required by the maintenance and ground personnel are airfield emergency procedures, aircraft type knowledge, Foreign Object Debris (FOD) training, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) training.

The Airport Crash Fire and Rescue squadron will require continues training in aircraft fire fighting techniques. Hazmat training will be another training requirement. Crash crews will need to training for many types of aircraft accidents, such as crash landing on and off the airfield, hard landings, tire blow outs, engine fires, and passenger debarking. Crash crews will also need to undergo first responder training as well.

The continued training in the safety program is paramount to the success of the overall program. The ability and flexibility of the safety program will be dependant on the budget set aside for the safety program. As an example, due to the increase of avionics in aircraft over the years, pilot training courses in new aircraft technology is a continues process.  The Safety Director will need to find intuitive ways to keep cost of the program down while providing the required training. Many ways exist in accomplishing this task, such as sending pilots to a simulator for proficiency training, check rides, and ratings. Inviting manufacture teams to come in and conduct training instead of sending people out to the manufacture company is one way to save money. Another intuitive way is to train he trainer. Send a representative to the manufacture to receive the training, and then he/she can return to teach others.

Another area that requires sustained training is the airport emergency plan. The Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to conduct mock emergencies every three years. Another approach to conducting airport emergency planning is have a table top exercise. This type of training will bring all agencies together to go over the excise scenarios to determine if plans require updating.