Where Birds Don't Fly

When the root cause of an accident is determined to be that a pilot failed to act on something, whatever this failure might be, the root cause analysis becomes a simple task of making that statement. The root cause could be assigned by management or by the pilot and accepted by management in their root cause analysis. A pilot may state that: “I inadvertently failed to meet the pilot-in-command requirements for a tailwheel airplane…” or a statement of: “The failure of the pilot to maintain adequate clearance with the terrain during aerobatic maneuvering.” Other root cause human error failure could be that: “ The pilot failed to maintain clearance with a fuel truck and failed to request a marshaller and wingwalkers”.   With any of these root cause statements accepted by management, the root cause analysis is completed, the file is closed and put on the shelf with comments of “ no further action required . “Assigning root cause of failure not to perform a specific task, or two, is acc...

A Safety Policy in an effective Safety Management System is a forward-looking policy, the policy is organizational guidance maternal for operational policies and processes, a road map, a vision of an end-result with increased profit margin or higher return on investment and a plan to prepare each flight or operations at an airport to be completed without an incident. One of the questions a safety policy must answer is the reason for implementing a safety management system when an operator is operating safely without incidents, without a safety policy and without a Safety Management System. A safety policy is not about the operator’s commitment of safety, or what an organization is committed to in regards to the safety of operations, but rather how the organization is committed to make safety work. If the Safety Policy does not build the future, it doesn’t build anything.  Building a safety policy needs a blueprint just like the construction of a building or building a road. Without...