Where Birds Don't Fly

The shelves are stacked with manuals of different kinds and at times collecting more dust than fingerprints. A common purpose of manuals are to serve as a memory bank, a place to find information or as triggers of operational procedures and processes. Just as when purchasing a vehicle, the operator's manual is there for information and should guide to processes and trigger procedures. Another purpose is that a manual is required for the issuance of a certificate. These types of manuals are the test, or in other words the bar required to pass for issuance of a certificate. This could be an airport certificate, air-operator certificate or other transportation licenses or certificates. Issuance of a license or certificate to an entity or business requires a manual to document regulatory levels. Obviously, the manual is reviewed as test for compliance, just like a person is tested for a pilot license or vehicle operator license. When AOK the license or certificate is issued. Organizati...

It has been said that a Safety Management System (SMS) is self-regulating of aviation. SMS may be lot of things, but self-regulating is not one of them. SMS is self-management, and a tool for an enterprise to manage the day to day operation, to plan for the future and to analyze processes applied in the past for further improvement of operational safety. A risk assessment for an exemption request includes mitigation processes. An enterprise is managing safety by risk assessments and applying mitigation processes. It may be possible to apply for regulatory exemptions. However, with an exemption an enterprise still conform to regulatory compliance. When an enterprise prepares  an exemption application,  they are developing mitigation plans and conducting risk assessments to justify their intent. Operating with an exception could cause more strain on the operation than anticipated. It becomes a significant factor what choice of data is entered into the risk assessments for mitiga...