New Air Safety Website

The Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) is expanding its outreach efforts by launching a new website to spread information about efforts to make commercial air travel safer. The new site, http://www.CAST-safety.org, is geared toward the international aviation community, interested media, government...

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The Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) is expanding its outreach efforts by launching a new website to spread information about efforts to make commercial air travel safer.

The new site, http://www.CAST-safety.org, is geared toward the international aviation community, interested media, government agencies, and the general public. The website details CAST safety enhancements, procedures, and the global strategy that has resulted in the CAST track record of increasing safety and reducing commercial aviation accidents.

CAST is refocusing its efforts to build on the success to date, continuing its proactive approach to safety by moving deeper into risk prediction and mitigation strategies. Using aviation industry data, CAST is identifying emerging threats before they result in accidents. CAST is also continuing to spread its methods internationally and has been the model for establishing similar safety programs for general aviation and rotorcraft.

Formed in 1998, CAST is a voluntary partnership consisting of all commercial aviation stakeholders -- government agencies, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, additional aviation industry members, employee representatives, and others.

The CAST mission is to increase air travel safety using an integrated, data-driven approach based on analyzing accident causes, identifying ways to make positive changes and implementing improvements.

When the group formed, its goal was to reduce the fatal accident rate by 80 percent over 10 years. By this year, CAST was able to report that by implementing the most promising safety enhancements, the fatality risk of commercial air travel in the United States was reduced by 83 percent.

Meanwhile, Capt. Don Gunther, Continental Airlines' senior director for safety & regulatory compliance, is the new industry co-chair of CAST, succeeding Capt. Hank Krakowski, formerly of United Airlines, who recently became chief operating officer of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Organization.

The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), which represents the airline industry members of CAST, led the process that resulted in the selection of Gunther.

"Capt. Gunther brings a wide array of operational and safety experience to the CAST team," said ATA Vice President of Operations and Safety Basil Barimo. "Don has been instrumental in helping the industry improve its safety record and we look forward to many more contributions from him."

A native of southern California, Gunther graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971, and flew Naval Reserve aircraft for 20 years. Hired by Continental Airlines in 1977, he has qualified as both a captain & instructor pilot.

His corporate management responsibilities include flight safety, ground safety, regulatory issues, the internal audit program, workers' compensation and medical programs.

In addition, he supervises crucial companywide voluntary safety reporting systems. Gunther's team developed innovative Threat & Error Management (TEM) training programs, now endorsed by worldwide aviation authorities.

Capt. Gunther has served as chairman of the ATA Human Factors Committee and as a member of the FAA Voluntary Safety Information Sharing (VSIS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). He is currently a member of the Flight Safety Foundation Board of Governors and assumed the position of chairman of the ATA Safety Council this month.