Safeguarding Air Transportation at the 63rd Air Safety Forum

Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA’s president, kicks off the Association’s 63rd Air Safety Forum.

Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA’s president, opened the 63rd Air Safety Forum on July 19 with a welcome to the attendees and a note on the breadth of experience and expertise in the room. “So many pilots, along with government and industry representatives from the United States, Canada, and around the globe, come together at this event united in a single purpose: making air transportation safer.”

Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA’s first vice president and national safety coordinator, addresses the audience.

With the theme of “Safeguarding Air Transportation,” the forum combined two public days of panel discussions with two private days of council and group meetings to advance the goals of the Association and its Air Safety Organization (ASO). Canoll spoke about the efforts of some special interests to roll back the first officer qualification and training legislation and rules started in 2010—rules that he acknowledged were “the most comprehensive, significant, and impactful regulatory action since the one level of safety initiative implemented in the mid-1990s.”

He cautioned that “profit-motivated special interests are attempting an end run around the safety regulations to lower workforce costs and line their own pockets,” and vowed that ALPA will continue its fight against these efforts and others. “ALPA will not relent in our drive to block any effort to erode the rules that have led to the safest time in history for U.S. airline passengers and cargo shippers.”

Canoll highlighted priorities such as the introduction of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into civil airspace, the need for science-based fatigue rules for pilots who fly cargo operations and for all Canadian airline pilots, the installation of secondary cockpit barriers, improvements in aviation security, the need for further regulation of dangerous goods such as lithium batteries, and the value of pilot assistance programs. He touched on where ALPA has found success and where more work needs to be done, such as with UAS. “One of the most frustrating parts of aviation safety work,” he explained, “is when we see a threat, but our industry takes no action until the threat causes a tragedy.”

Throughout the opening session, Canoll compared the ASO’s pilot representatives to professional athletes by saying about both: “For ALPA members and representatives of so many other organizations in this room, accuracy, innovation, persistence, and professionalism are par for the course in our safety work.”

Continue reading on for coverage of the Air Safety Forum’s public days, and visit safetyforum.alpa.org for additional forum highlights, photos, and videos. Coverage of the forum’s private days will be included in the September issue. Read coverage of the Air Safety Forum Awards Banquet.

Panel Discussions

Security Panel Examines Aviation Security Challenges

F/O Preston Greene (FedEx Express), ALPA’s President’s Committee for Cargo vice chair, right, talks about cargo security.

With the terrorist attacks launched against airports in Brussels, Belgium, and Istanbul, Turkey in 2016, and the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport shooting event earlier this year, the first of this year’s Air Safety Forum panel discussions addressed, “Keeping Pace with Today’s Aviation Security Needs.” Moderator Capt. Wolfgang Koch (Delta), ALPA’s Aviation Security chair, set the stage, recounting these and other incidents and how federal security and law enforcement agencies are working with the aviation community to better safeguard air transportation.

Mario Saucier, acting director general of aviation security for Transport Canada, discussed his country’s efforts to leverage partnerships among airline industry stakeholders and intelligence agencies to combat aviation threats. “It’s never over,” he noted, emphasizing the risks inherent in air transportation and the need for greater communication and information-sharing.

Darby LaJoye, assistant administrator for the Transportation Security Administration’s Office of Security Operations, talked about a “curb-to-gate approach” to airport security, stressing the need for the agency to deemphasize setting security policy in lieu of working with industry stakeholders and the broader perspectives they provide to reach viable solutions. He noted that during this summer transportation security officers will have screened a daily average of more than 2 million passengers across the United States.

“It’s the ensuing chaos that causes more injuries,” said Patrick Gannon, deputy executive director for public safety and security at Los Angeles World Airports, recalling the active shooter incident at Los Angeles International Airport in 2013. Evacuating the crowd and the ensuing chaos generated its own set of challenges. Gannon observed that the airport is attempting to train all airport workers on how to best respond in these events, including restaurant and concession employees.

F/O Preston Greene (FedEx Express), vice chair of ALPA’s President’s Committee for Cargo, broadened the aviation security discussion to include all-cargo operations. “Security is one of the biggest differences between passenger and cargo operations,” he remarked. He noted a vulnerability in cargo security as compared to passenger operations due to security identification display areas not being fully utilized at air cargo operations, the lack of intrusion-resistant cockpit doors on some air cargo aircraft taking away the reactionary gap during an attempted breach of the flight deck, and air freight’s carriage of some supernumeraries, who may not be fully screened.

In closing, Koch observed, “As we near the 16th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, numerous threats against the security of our industry remain. Our enemies are patient, intelligent, focused, and adaptive, and will not stop until they are successful once again. All stakeholders must work together to build a common strategy to meet the threats that are poised against us.”

Simplifying Checklists for the Better

Capt. Frank Cheeseman (United), ALPA’s Human Factors and Training Group chair, far left, leads a panel composed of the NTSB, NASA, and airline experts discussing lessons learned from human factors research.

A panel moderated by Capt. Frank Cheeseman (United), ALPA’s Human Factors and Training Group chair, entitled “We Can and Must Improve: Human-Centered Standard Operating Procedures,” focused on the future evolution of operational procedures.

“Mechanics and engineers have done a fabulous job in making aircraft more reliable and safe,” said Cheeseman. “If you look at the data now, 80 to 90 percent of our accidents are human-factors related. So this is clearly an area where we can improve, as the last 10 to 20 years have been filled with research. The question is now do we sit on the research, or do we do something with it? The next leap in aviation safety will be in the human element, and ALPA will lead the way.”

Dr. Sathya Silva, a human performance investigator for the NTSB, highlighted two historic accidents in which human factors’ failures—namely checklist usage—were major factors in the cause and led to the increased focus in human-factors research. “The pilots in these accidents had poor SOP guidance, resulting from organizational and corporate culture issues that affect how pilots fly. The SOPs may not have been optimized for the pilot and plane, and that’s something that we know we can fix and improve upon.”

Dr. Immanuel Barshi, the senior principal investigator in NASA’s Human Systems Integration Division at the Ames Research Center, spoke about how investigations can focus on the wrong elements of a mishap. “All accidents are the results of human error, and all cases of pilot error are really crew error—for some reason, the crew could not prevent or stop the mistake, as it wasn’t their mistake to begin with. They weren’t the cause, because the procedures were the problem.”

Barshi warned of the problems of creating and updating checklists: “Of course, it’s easy to make a knee-jerk ‘let’s add a new line to the procedure checklist,’ but when you turn people into procedure monkeys....they lose their creativity. And when something goes awry—they have no ability to assess the problem.”

Capt. Rich Loudon (Alaska), a member of his airline’s Human Factors Working Group, shared a human-factors success story within his airline, which was noticing an upward trend in Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) reports. He and his team spearheaded a new philosophy on briefings by creating memory items that were interactive, scalable, and cognitively based. This cut down the number of items discussed in a given phase of flight and adopted a more commonsense approach that pilots quickly accepted and that reduced reports dramatically. “We studied other industries, like firefighters, to see what we could use, and set up a structure based on pattern recognition. It’s designed to anticipate threats, discuss countermeasures, and—in doing that—create a pattern that results in a better understanding and recall of the action necessary in the situation.”

Capt. Helena Cunningham (Delta), ALPA’s human factors subject-matter expert, focused on increasing pilot understanding. “When it comes to SOPs, if pilots are told the ‘why’ behind a particular procedure, you will find much higher acceptance and compliance.”

Cunningham also pointed out human limitation when putting too much on a procedure: “Multitasking leads us all to errors, but we can counter that tendency with good, streamlined, checklists.”

“Mitigating Risk—That’s Safety”

Capt. Steve Jangelis (Delta), ALPA’s Aviation Safety chair, highlights the need for a fair and level playing field.

Capt. Rich Hughey (FedEx Express), chair of ALPA’s President’s Committee for Cargo, moderated the panel discussion “Passenger and Cargo—Disparity in Risk and Protection in Commercial Aviation?” The panel, made up of Capt. Steve Jangelis (Delta), ALPA’s Aviation Safety chair; Bobbi Wells, FedEx’s vice president of safety and air worthiness air operations; Victoria Newhouse, deputy assistant administrator of the Transportation Security Administration’s Office of Security Policy and Industry Engagement; Janet McLaughlin, director of the FAA’s Office of Hazardous Materials Safety; and Dr. Peter Demitry of 4D-Enterprises, LLC explored the different risks present in all-cargo operations and examined the steps needed and being taken to address those risks.

Hughey reminded attendees of some of the main differences that affect cargo safety and security, including the aircraft tend to be older and there’s more widebody flying, increased night flying, additional security issues, and less-stringent flight-time/duty-time rules.

Members of the panel spoke about the importance of collaboration and trust in addressing these and other issues. Newhouse said, and Wells agreed, “We can’t do this without you—you’re a critical part.… We have a great deal of trust in you, which is reflected in our partnerships with you.” Newhouse brought up the insider threat that’s more prevalent in cargo operations and also spoke about increased advance screening. “We’re constantly looking at different ways to identify highly suspect cargo.” Wells echoed that message. “We have to be willing to do things differently,” she said. “We’re the safest form of transportation—but no one up here will say that’s good enough.”

Demitry, a former fighter pilot, discussed the fatigue issue from a medical perspective—including what we don’t know about it. “We need to learn from the near misses,” he said.

McLaughlin discussed the threat of lithium batteries, noting that a combination of factors would likely need to be implemented. “Everybody is now taking responsibility for their part of a solution that might work in the future,” she said. This includes improvements in packaging, in aircraft, in equipment, and in risk mitigation. “Asking ‘what’s the one solution’—has never worked,” she said, acknowledging that she thought a layered system would be in place “in the not-too-distant future” that will mitigate the risk.

Jangelis summed up the panel’s conversations, noting, “Identifying risk isn’t safety. Mitigating risk—that’s safety.” He criticized the cost-benefit analyses that the U.S. government uses—which is based on the number of lives lost in an accident—to determine whether airline safety improvements are made. This is too narrow a view as the calculation unfairly penalizes cargo by definition. “A work environment that promotes a fair and level playing field is all cargo pilots want,” he concluded. “We all want to get back home to see our families.”

U.S. and Canadian ATC Share More than Just a Border

Neil Wilson, NAV CANADA CEO and president, and Teri Bristol, chief operating officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, engage in a discussion about North American air traffic.

Air traffic controllers in both the United States and Canada serve a vital role, organizing and expediting the flow of air traffic and providing information and other resources to pilots. In a presentation titled “North American Air Traffic Discussion,” senior executives from the FAA and NAV CANADA talked about their collaborative efforts to manage the countries’ adjacent skies.

Teri Bristol, chief operating officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, noted, “ALPA is a key participant working with the FAA,” adding, “We need pilot engagement so your role is absolutely critical.” She talked about the agency’s efforts to advance NextGen air transportation system technologies in four key areas: ADS-B and performance-based navigation, data communications, efficient multiple-runway operations, and improving surface data-sharing. Bristol also acknowledged the excellent working relationship the FAA shares with NAV CANADA and their mutual support.

“Everything is connected; everything is so complex. If we don’t collaborate, if we don’t work effectively together, it’s easy to see we’re going to have huge problems,” said Neil Wilson, president and CEO of NAV CANADA, noting the importance of his agency’s rapport with the FAA. “We have this common border. We have about a million handoffs a year between the FAA and NAV CANADA,” remarked Wilson.

Flooding from a severe thunderstorm in Ottawa, Ont., recently brought down the agency’s automated flight planning system. Wilson acknowledged that this created particular challenges for coordinating international flights. He noted that Canadian air traffic controllers were able to collaborate with the FAA to help with the workload until the downed systems could be restored.

Facilitating the panel discussion was Margaret Jenny, president of the RTCA, whose organization works with the FAA to develop recommendations on issues ranging from technical performance standards to operational concepts for air transportation.

“Change is Coming”

Capt. Rip Torn (Delta), ALPA’s Air Traffic Services Group chair, leads a panel discussion on advancing the air traffic control system.

Capt. Rip Torn (Delta), chair of ALPA’s Air Traffic Services Group, led a panel titled “Advancing ATC Now,” with Steve Hansen, chairman of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) National Safety Committee; Larry Lachance, NAV CANADA’s vice president of safety and quality; Terry Biggio, the FAA’s vice president of safety and technical training; Capt. Mark Bradley, Delta Air Lines’ technical pilot of industry affairs; and F/O Jim Duke (United), ALPA’s air traffic services subject-matter expert.

Torn highlighted the “constantly evolving and modernizing” ATC system, noting that the goal of the panel was to discuss “what can be done now to enable these improvements.”

Biggio reiterated the need for collaboration that many speakers throughout the forum emphasized. “We couldn’t do it without this team here and those in the field.” He used the New York Metroplex as an example of collaboration, explaining how routing some flights through Canadian airspace helps everything run much more smoothly.

Lachance said that NAV CANADA has placed an emphasis on predictability within data and communication, stating that standardization can “free the brain” of air traffic controllers and allow them to be better suited to provide assistance when needed. Responding to a question from the audience, Lachance spoke about how mixed equipage makes this goal more challenging, using the example of ADS-B and saying that not every airplane is equipped to use it. “The more we get standardization,” he said, “the better off we’ll be.” He responded to another question about the effect of last-minute changes (e.g., a new runway or approach path), noting that NAV CANADA is educating its controllers about the effect of last-minute changes on everyone involved in the process.

Hansen echoed Lachance’s comments regarding educating controllers. He explained that when controllers know the impact a change in procedure or protocol will produce, buy-in becomes much easier. He also pointed out how sometimes the impact of changes aren’t felt for many years, using time-based flow management as an example of something that’s been around for a while but has only recently become useful.

Bradley, responding to Torn’s opening comments, said, “There’s no doubt that we’re trying to evolve—and it’s never quick enough.” He observed that by constantly evaluating where we are now, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going, we can make sure that safety always remains a top priority. He also emphasized the need for ALPA to have a continued presence globally to achieve the best results and standardization.

Duke told the audience, “We represent you, the line pilot, to industry. We work to design safety into the system at the start so you can fly without any workarounds.” Regarding change, Duke said, “When pilots understand why a change is made, that’s much better. When ALPA is involved, we can help with that education.”

Torn concluded the panel discussion saying, “To move things forward is going to require collaboration and cooperation. As an Association, we will continue to engage on these issues.”

“Change is coming,” he promised, “and we all need to be ready and able to handle it.”

Limiting Runway Incursions

Attendees listen during the “Runway Safety Technologies—Enhancing Safety at the Surface” panel.

In a panel discussion titled “Runway Safety Technologies—Enhancing Safety at the Surface,” airline and government representatives reviewed recent advancement and improvements in ground operations safety. “There’s been tremendous progress in improving safety on the ground in the past several decades,” said F/O Mark Crystal (ExpressJet), ALPA’s Airport & Ground Environment Group chair and panel moderator. “But there’s always room for improvement,” he noted, adding that “runway incursions are still at our airports so the potential for an on-ground collision is still a risk and must continually be mitigated in new and better ways.”

Crystal and four panelists spoke at length about specific initiatives, including the use of runway status lights, a notification system designed to reduce the number and severity of runway incursions. Bridget Gee, a NATCA tower and runway safety rep at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, observed that there are two kinds of runway status lights—runway entry lights and takeoff hold lights. “One of the major myths out there is that controllers actually turn the lights on and off,” said Gee, noting, “It’s a fully automated, passive system.”

James Fee, the FAA’s manager of runway safety and a former ALPA member, commented that 20 airports around the United States have implemented runway status lights. “It’s intended to be a tool for the pilots in making your decision whether to accept the clearance and continue going. It’s an enhancement to your situational awareness,” he said.

The panel also discussed the use of the engineered materials arresting system (EMAS), which is installed at the end of runways to mitigate the effects of an overrun. Khalil Kodsi, manager of the FAA’s Airport Engineering Division, observed that EMAS has been installed on 106 runways at 67 airports in the United States with plans to install seven more EMAS systems at six additional airports in the near future.

Fee commented that he wasn’t familiar with any injuries due to EMAS overruns and that prior to EMAS being implemented, runway overruns occasionally produced injuries and fatalities. But despite the added layer of protection EMAS offers, he said that some pilots have been hesitant to use it, opting instead to run off a runway’s side perimeters.

Capt. Greg Wooley, ExpressJet’s vice president of flight operations, commented that pilots may be concerned that if they use EMAS in an overrun situation, they’ll likely make the evening news. He stressed, “We need to train pilots to use EMAS when they need it,” noting that it should also be added as a standard briefing piece.

During the ensuing Q&A session, Capt. Don Dobias (United), who chairs ALPA’s Training Committee, asked how an airliner EMAS encounter should be handled. Fee recommended following the airline’s standard emergency evacuation procedures, noting that the aircraft is typically extracted after all passengers have been removed.

“Max thrust”

F/O Jim Pala (United), ALPA’s UAS subject-matter expert, noted that safety must come first when introducing drones into the national airspace system.

The panel “Fortifying Today’s Aircraft for Tomorrow’s Threats” was moderated by F/O Bryan Lesko (United), chair of ALPA’s Aircraft Design and Operations Group, and included Shane Gilman, United Airlines’ manager of flight operations electronic flight bag (EFB) programs; F/O Jim Pala (FedEx Express), ALPA’s UAS subject-matter expert; Dr. Ed Johnson, the FAA’s chief scientist and technical advisor for wake turbulence; and Melissa Bravin, Boeing Commercial Airplane’s propulsion operability and performance engineer.

The conversation focused on how challenges and threats change as technology changes. And sometimes it’s not necessarily a new threat that pops up but a new awareness of a threat that’s been undetected previously. Bravin spoke about her work with Boeing on the danger of high-altitude ice crystal icing, something for which new technology has allowed better detection. That technology now needs to be used to educate, identify, and communicate the issue so problems can be prevented.

Johnson spoke about wake turbulence and the research necessary as new aircraft are introduced and as new standards are being discussed. He reported that wake turbulence separation standards have been lowered at 31 airports and explained the aircraft recategorization the FAA undertook to help address ongoing issues. “ALPA has been a big player in wake turbulence at the FAA,” he said and encouraged all pilots to file reports when they experience wake turbulence. “The FAA counts on pilots to report wake turbulence when they encounter it. The reports help guide future events.”

Gilman addressed the added threat that an EFB might pose and other technological issues involved with them. For example, he said, Apple releases updates to its operating system regularly, creating a constant need to test and retest the necessary apps pilots use. In response to an audience question, he also stated the need to keep an eye on potential battery issues with the EFBs. The benefits, however, are great, providing a better quality of life for pilots who no longer have to drag around physical bags. “We’ve convinced leadership that the device is a useful tool with a strong life going forward,” he concluded.

Pala spoke about the ongoing threat of UAS in the national airspace system (NAS). “This issue is on max thrust with no signs of letting up,” he said. He stated that reports of UAS have grown threefold just this year and urged pilots to report near-midair collisions with UAS. He expressed disappointment that the regulations requiring registration were overturned but said that ALPA is working to correct that. He discussed a future issue of flying drones beyond the visual line of sight. “A detect-and-avoid system has to be developed,” he said, “with collision avoidance as a backup.” That risk of collision, he said, is the biggest concern. “UAS must be introduced into the NAS with safety in mind,” he stated.

The 30,000-foot view of pilot supply

Capt. Frank Cheeseman (United), ALPA’s Human Factors and Training Group chair, left, speaks with Capt. Paul Ryder (ExpressJet), ALPA’s national resource coordinator and Fee-for-Departure Committee chair, about pilot supply issues.

Anticipated growth in the global airline industry and the recent challenges in meeting regional airline pilot staffing demands have brought about reports of a supposed airline pilot shortage. A panel discussion titled “Beyond Rhetoric—A Real Discussion on Pilot Supply” led by Capt. Frank Cheeseman (United), who chairs ALPA’s Human Factors and Training Group, examined myths and facts related to the topic.

Capt. Paul Ryder (ExpressJet), ALPA’s national resource coordinator, acknowledged that in the coming decades there will be a strong global demand for airline pilots. “What’s important to acknowledge is that every region is unique, filled with its opportunities and its challenges, and what works and will help one region may not translate directly to another region,” he said. Ryder noted that although some U.S.-based regional airlines have experienced difficulties in maintaining sufficient pilot ranks, over a recent three-and-a-half-year period, 26,000 airline transport pilot (ATP) certificates have been issued, which exceed the number of available airline pilot jobs. He stated that there are other factors dissuading pilots from seeking express airline employment.

Capt. Mike McCaskey, managing director of United Airlines Flight Operations, talked about a program his carrier is implementing to ensure that pilot-staffing requirements are met. “As a network carrier, we recognize we have a huge reliance on our express partners. As a result, we’ve moved to what we call ‘career path programs’ that define a path from the partner to United upon reaching certain requirements of time and service with the partner,” he said. Pilots “go through the application process at United Airlines, and once they reach the commitment necessary as defined in the agreement then they come to United Airlines in class-seniority order.”

Training is an essential component of being an airline pilot, and Capt. Dave McKenney (United), ALPA’s director of Training, looked at current ab initio programs that take pilot candidates with zero flying hours and whether these training programs adequately prepare these individuals for the first officer job. McKenney stressed that individuals who reach the right seat of an airliner should have the skills to serve as pilot-in-command. “If we cut costs at the beginning and don’t give them the proper training to build a strong foundation in required pilot knowledge and skills early in a pilot’s training, we find that in a lot of cases they keep trying to rebuild those skills and the likelihood that they will get that knowledge and skills later is significantly reduced,” he remarked.

Capt. Pierre Ruel, Transport Canada’s chief of flight standards, talked about unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAV) and whether government agencies should segregate or integrate this new category of pilots in terms of how they’re regulated. Ruel speculated that the demand for UAV pilots will be huge and that they could be an additional source of airline pilot candidates. “They might be people who would never have thought of setting foot in the local flying club,” he said. “But because now you’re telling them that if they want to fly UAVs and there’s some knowledge testing—you force them to learn about airspace and weather. If only a small percentage of these people decide to make the jump to manned aviation, well there you go. You have a new avenue of people joining manned aviation, or the big family of aviation.”

Keynote Speeches

“We’ve Come Together for Safety in the Skies”

Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) spoke to Air Safety Forum attendees the afternoon of July 19, reinforcing his continued support of the first officer qualifications and training requirements.

Collins has been a general aviation pilot for more than 40 years and was the county executive in New York when Colgan Flight 3407 went down less than a mile from his house. “I was at the site of the accident within 15 minutes” he told attendees, spending what he termed a “horrific 72 hours” there.

Collins spoke with pride about keeping the standards in the House version of the current FAA reauthorization and promised to maintain the fight as the House and Senate versions are merged. “We’ve stood with these families year in and year out,” he said, “as we’ve come together for safety in the skies.”

Collins also highlighted his opposition to Norwegian Air International and its flag-of-convenience business model, saying, “I’ve led the fight on Norwegian Air for some time now” and explaining that the related amendment in the House version of the bill “should be helpful to end the Norwegian Air issue.”

TSA Official Cites Collaboration in Advancing Aviation Security

On July 19, Roderick Allison, acting deputy administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), spoke about the agency’s latest initiatives to raise the aviation security bar. “Throughout the United States and the global aviation community, there’s an adaptive and active enemy that you all should be very well aware of. These groups continue to target passenger aircraft and they’re seeing parts of commercial aviation as they are pursuing new attack methods,” said Allison. “This is precisely why we must raise the baseline for global aviation security.”

Allison announced that the TSA is developing an ALPA proposal to create a security incident reporting program for its frontline employees. Borrowing elements from existing safety-reporting programs, it would enhance intelligence-collection efforts while maintaining a core, just culture philosophy in a risk-based security environment. He further stressed the value of both public partnerships and intelligence-sharing in making air transportation more seamless and transparent. “Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum,” he noted, observing that aviation security stakeholders must continue to work together.

Allison concluded by saying that despite collective efforts, new and unforeseen challenges will emerge, remarking, “I think we have a few more hills to climb.”

The Future of Safety

Capt. Steve Jangelis (Delta), Kathy Fox (TSB), and the Honorable Robert Sumwalt (NTSB)

The afternoon of July 20 featured a top-level keynote discussion hosted by Capt. Steve Jangelis (Delta), ALPA’s Aviation Safety chair; the Honorable Robert Sumwalt, acting chair of the NTSB; and Kathy Fox, chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) as they discussed the future of safety regulations and requirements in the United States and Canada.

Sumwalt, a former ALPA member and 2004 Air Safety Award recipient, applauded ALPA’s role in advancing safety efforts, as did Fox, who stated, “ALPA has significant influence and a voice that we listen to.”

With the Canadian government considering the installation of image recorders on trains, Jangelis questioned if such a move would be applied to airliners in the future. Both Fox and Sumwalt support the installation of cockpit image recorders, citing recent investigations—like the 2015 breakup of SpaceShip Two—where such recordings helped determine the accident’s probable cause. “We would ensure that such data would be for safety purposes, not punitive ones, just like FOQA data are today,” Sumwalt claimed.

If recorders are installed, Jangelis pointed out the need to preserve the privacy of such videos, noting several instances of video and cockpit voice recorders being leaked to news media outlets overseas. In addition, Jangelis acknowledged that if resources are being allotted to install such cameras, pilots would rather see them used in other places on aircraft, such as landing gear and even looking from the cockpit door toward the cabin.

Discussing the importance of proactive safety programs, Fox addressed how the TSB views safety management system (SMS) data. “It helps us look into organizational issues: what were the hazards that contributed to the mishap or occurrence, were they known to the company, and—if so—what did the company do to mitigate the risks? And if they didn’t, why not? We feel all operators should have an SMS program.”

Sumwalt echoed Fox’s comments, “It’s easy to identify, in an accident, that—as an example—the flaps were down. What SMS helps us with is learning that the cause was an organizational one—that the culture in the company was such that allowed something like that to happen when it should have never been allowed.… I have a sign in my office that says identifying the cause of the mistake should be the starting point of an investigation, not the end.”

Highlighting the emergence of social media in investigations, Sumwalt discussed lessons the NTSB has learned: “The public wants to and needs to know. But it’s a balancing act of how much to share at a given moment. We faced a lot of criticism over our tweeting out on the Asiana crash. But we’re learning that it can be a valuable and effective tool to get information out.”

Jangelis noted that over the last several years the public has provided videos and photos to aid investigations. “People now are standing and recording video and taking photos of an accident rather than running for cover. That information certainly helps investigations in the long run, like in the Bagram crash and a recent blown tire incident at JFK.”

Responding to a question about potential threats to safety, Fox said, “Our mandate as an agency is reactive, but we do watch UAS, flight time/duty time, training requirements—but the biggest risk is knowing that, in our experience, the next accident is hidden in the data.… And it takes too long to address known safety issues. Other agencies may agree with our recommendations, but change is slow. It took years for ground proximity warning systems to be required. And industry should want to change on its own.”

Sumwalt acknowledged, “Only 20 percent of NTSB recommendations call for regulatory changes. The rest generally ask for folks to collaborate to find a solution, and ALPA has always been a leader in that.”

The Ambassador of Safety

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta delivered the forum’s closing keynote address on July 20, talking about how far aviation has progressed and the role of safety in that advancement. “The role of the administrator is to be the ambassador of safety, and I truly enjoy meeting with groups like ALPA, especially those who are passionate.”

Drawing parallels to the space race, where new science was created to achieve travel to the moon in just seven years, Huerta commended the commercial aviation industry on its improvements in safety.

“There was a time many of us may remember in the 1980s, and into the 1990s, when newspaper headlines were dominated by coverage of aviation accidents. Even today, many can list them from memory, and they carry a lot of weight in our mind… So when the goal was set by the White House in 1997 to reduce the risk by 80 percent, everyone was skeptical that the industry would succeed.”

“But in 1998, [the FAA] formed the Commercial Aviation Safety Team [CAST]—the first real effort at putting aside competitive agendas for the common good of the industry,” said Huerta. “And like the teams at NASA who invented the science of traveling outside the orbit of the earth, this industry got together and turned safety into a science.

“We all know that, during accident investigations, the ultimate goal is to find that elusive 'golden BB'—the one piece of evidence that tells us exactly what happened,” Huerta acknowledged. “That ‘golden BB’ in safety analysis turned out to be data—lots and lots of data! And because of [CAST], industry and government started sharing all kinds of data, looking for ways to identify and mitigate risks long before an accident. It was a great leap of faith… sharing data from ASAP and FOQA. And by 2008, the results were an 83 percent reduction in risks. It didn’t capture headlines like the Apollo program, but the industry had completed a ‘moon shot’ of its own. Had we done nothing, the industry would have faced a major accident or disaster every two weeks.”

Huerta posed the question of continued safety improvements, responding, “I believe the answer lies in the continued collaboration of government, labor, and industry. Saying that, we must achieve deeper levels of trust and transparency if we want to reach the next level of safety, reducing risks 50 percent by the year 2025.… Safety is intentional, and the record is only as good as the last takeoff and landing. On any given day, I want to see the same number of landings as takeoffs.”

In closing, Huerta expressed gratitude to ALPA for the Association’s support, and endless supply of advice, before reminding attendees that “there is a lot of work to do still. I’m proud to contribute to an aviation system that traces its roots back 114 years to a sand dune in North Carolina, and the progress made between where we were and where we are now—and that is thanks to all of your dedication to making this the safest transportation system in the world.”


Slaughter Addresses ALPA’s Air Safety Forum

“It shouldn’t take a tragedy to keep people safe,” said Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), while speaking at the Air Safety Forum about the Colgan Air Flight 3407 accident near Buffalo, N.Y. A self-described frequent flyer, Slaughter addressed members of ALPA’s Air Safety Organization, stressing the need to uphold first officer minimum qualification standards and other important safety regulations mandated by the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010. “Let me say that no lives have been lost since we put these safety protections in place, and I don’t see that as a coincidence,” she asserted.

“If we water down any part of that rule, it’s an insult to every pilot who takes our loved ones through the air,” said Slaughter, pledging her commitment to maintain the current minimum first officer training and qualification regulations. She talked about the legacy of the Colgan accident victims and the continuing efforts of their families to ensure that a disaster like this never occurs again.

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of Air Line Pilot.

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