Air Safety Organization Update
ALPA Convenes One-Day ASAP Workshop
ALPA’s Air Safety Organization held a one-day workshop on the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) in late May with nearly 50 attendees, including ALPA pilot representatives from 11 master executive councils and ALPA staff from the Representation, Legal, and Engineering & Air Safety Departments. Also attending were representatives from airline management and executives.
The workshop was interactive, with all participants contributing information about the aspects of their programs that are working well. Many also shared ongoing challenges that they’re experiencing and sought insight from peers on how they can be resolved.
Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA’s first vice president and national safety coordinator, encouraged attendees to focus on ensuring that ASAPs on every property are robust and healthy and that their benefits are broadly used to increase safety.
A senior FAA representative briefed attendees on the FAA’s effort to publish a revised ASAP advisory circular, the continued focus on transitioning the FAA workforce to the revised compliance philosophy, and plans for safety data programs in light of the mandated implementation of safety management systems in 2018.
CIRP Chairs Meet for Status Update
In conjunction with ALPA’s Pilot Assistance Forum, ALPA’s Critical Incident Response Program (CIRP) Group chairs met at the Association’s Herndon, Va., offices in late May. Led by Capt. Louise Cullinan (Mesa), the CIRP Group chair, attendees discussed the addition of WestJet pilots to the Association, master executive council status updates on CIRP activities, the pilot fitness initiative, and national crisis response canines.
Falling under ALPA’s Air Safety Organization Pilot Assistance umbrella, CIRP is a crucial safety program that uses pilots and spouses trained as peers to lessen the stress reactions that accidents or incidents may have on pilots, accident investigators, and their families.
ALPA Trains Advanced Accident Investigation Experts
In mid-May, ALPA conducted its semiannual Advanced Accident Investigation Course in Grand Forks, N.D., with the continuing support of the University of North Dakota and the Grand Forks Airport Authority, which again made their donated FedEx B-727 available for the course.
The participants—including 29 ALPA pilots from 15 pilot groups, two University of North Dakota students, and two Grand Forks Airport Authority employees—were divided into the following five groups in a mock accident investigation:
Aircraft Systems Group: Documented the cockpit and relevant aircraft systems components.
Operations Group: Reviewed flight crew training records, pilot certificates, medical history of the flight crew, dispatch paperwork, and weather information; conducted crew interviews; and examined human performance issues.
Structures Group: Documented structural damage.
Survival Factors Group: Documented the emergency egress systems.
CVR Group: Transcribed the voice recording.
Capt. Steve Demko (United), director of the Advanced Accident Investigation Course, said, “This course setting allows our ALPA investigators to experience the process of NTSB/Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigations while also learning how to interact in investigative groups during the field phase.”
The next Advanced Accident Investigation Course will be held October 2–5.
