The Federal Aviation Administration says new government and industry initiatives have succeeded in elevating the overall safety of U.S. regional air carrier operations.

In a report released last week, the FAA said the improvements stem in part from closer government oversight of pilot training and from moves by carriers to better identify and track weak pilots.

In releasing the final report on the so-called ‘Call to Action’ conducted in the wake of the fatal Colgan Air crash on Feb. 9, 2009 in Buffalo, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said “the Call to Action Final Report reflects the efforts of the FAA since June to further enhance safety for passengers who fly on any commercial airline regardless of whether it’s a major or regional carrier.

“The report lays out our initial actions to improve and revise pilot training and to develop an effective pilot fatigue rule. We also share what we have done to begin what must be an ongoing dialogue with airlines and unions to strengthen professionalism in the aviation industry and create mentoring programs for our nation’s pilots.

“This report is a snapshot of our work, which is by no means finished.  We will continue to aggressively push forward with these initiatives that we believe will raise the safety bar even higher,” he added.

The safety improvements outlined in the report range from more-focused government surveillance of pilot training to better tracking of new pilots' performance. The report also lays out progress FAA officials believe the industry has made in collecting and analyzing data from airline incidents and mishaps.

The FAA’s aim is to ensure that operators provide “effective and high quality” training to flight crews and other personnel; identifying and implementing most effective practices; maintaining and improving critical infrastructure; ensuring compliance with laws and regulations; developing new laws and regulations when appropriate; and working collaboratively with all interested parties.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted a public hearing on the Colgan accident. During that hearing and subsequent congressional hearings on June 10
and June 11, 2009, several issues came to light regarding pilot training and qualifications,
flight crew fatigue, and consistency of safety standards between operators.

On June 15, 2009, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt initiated a Call to Action on Airline Safety and Pilot Training for FAA, air carriers, and labor organizations to jointly identify and implement safety improvements.

“All participants have made progress toward completing goals and objectives stated in the June 24, 2009, action plan that resulted from the June 15, 2009, meeting,” the report states.

The final report also makes the following points:

• Pilot Fatigue---The FAA has made substantial progress toward developing a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) based on the Flight and Duty Time Limitations and
Rest Requirements (FDR) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC)
recommendations. We anticipate NPRM publication in the spring of 2010.

• Focused Inspection—The FAA inspected 85 carriers. Fourteen carriers were not
inspected because they already complied with the intent of the Focused Inspection by
having FAA-approved Advanced Qualification Programs (AQP). Seventy-six
carriers (including the 14 AQP carriers) have systems to comply with remedial
training requirements. An additional 15 carriers have some parts of a remedial
training system. Eight carriers lacked any component of a remedial training system
and have received additional scrutiny. Additionally, FAA inspectors observed 2,419
training/checking events. Corrective action is underway for those deemed
inadequate.

• Training Program Review Guidance—The FAA has drafted comprehensive guidance
for the industry and FAA inspectors as to how to review training in the context of a
Safety Management System (SMS). Publication will occur in February 2010.

• Air Carrier Commitments—In response to Administrator Babbitt’s letter requesting
written confirmation of commitment to practices discussed at the June 15, 2009,
meeting, the FAA received responses from 82 percent of part 121 air carriers. These
carriers represent 99 percent of aircraft operating under part 121. For aircraft
operating under part 121, 98 percent are operated by carriers who have, or intend to
implement, an Aviation Safety Action Plan (ASAP) and 94 percent are operated by
carriers who have, or intend to implement, both ASAP and a Flight Operations
Quality Assurance (FOQA) program. Also, the largest passenger airlines have taken
steps to increase communication, data sharing, and cooperation with their partner
airlines on implementation of effective safety practices.

• Labor Organization Commitments—In response to Administrator Babbitt’s letter
requesting written confirmation of commitments discussed in the June 15, 2009,
meeting, all seven labor organizations responded favorably. To advance this effort,
the FAA will host a gathering of pilot employee organizations in early 2010 to
develop actionable guidelines on cockpit discipline and pilot professionalism.

• Mentoring—The FAA remains strongly committed to developing processes to
effectively transfer experience among pilots. The FAA will ask participants at the
planned 2010 gathering of pilot employee organizations to address this topic.
• Regional Safety Forums—To share the ideas generated at the June 15, 2009, meeting,
listen to stakeholder comments, and collect additional ideas on enhancing airline
safety and pilot training, the FAA hosted 12 regional safety forums around the
country. Common themes included universal concern about pilot fatigue and
labor/management conflicts, including disagreement as to where to draw the line in
some cases between industrial relations and operational issues.

• Crew Training Requirements Rulemaking—The FAA received a large number of
comments. The Agency has determined that it will be necessary to issue a
supplemental (revised) NPRM to address some of the issues raised during the comment period. We expect to publish the revised proposal in early 2010.

• Guidance to Aviation Safety Inspectors—The FAA’s Aviation Safety organization
(AVS) completed this action by including interactive, scenario-based workshops on
regulatory oversight at its annual All-Managers Conference in August 2009.

“The FAA is committed to completing these actions and to the continued improvement of
Airline Safety and Pilot Training Action Plan initiatives. Follow up actions include a
planned gathering of pilot employee organizations in early 2010 to develop actionable
guidelines on professionalism and the transfer of experience.

“The DOT and FAA will continue to work with all interested parties to address the issues
raised by the Colgan 3407 accident and to protect the safety of the traveling public,” the final report stated.

Ramon Lopez also serves as editor-in-chief of Air Safety Week; he has been covering air safety for more than three decades (rlopez@accessintel.com).

www.aviationtoday.com/ramon_lopez_bio.html