Aviation Safety Management

Aviation and Safety
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Institution:
Abstract
Blue Coral Copters is a small aviation company that is owned by Nick Doobie. It specializes in vocational packages for its customers, most of whom are regulars. The company has been having some complications related to safety, most of which are due to the laxity of the management and the corporate culture adopted across all the areas of operation. These are cases that would have to be addressed through the formulation of a Safety Management System. In the past the company had some incidences where check rides are administered by the owner instead of an FAA official, extended working hours for the pilots, cargo doors opening mid-flight, engine over-torques, a bulletin board that is poorly placed and managed, proper training, flying over wires and too close to the water without safety equipment, poor maintenance of the helicopters, crumpled spaces at the ramp without proper markings and the pilots rarely use the checklists. All these are aspects that require serious considerations. This paper offers recommendations for each relative to the formulation of a Safety Management System.
Introduction
Airlines are considered to be the safest mode of transport, compared to road, rail and sea travels. The aspect of safety is linked to the fact that, there are fewer accidents that take place within the industry. While that may be true, it is crucial to consider the fact that, the accidents happen, they are some of the most catastrophic, as they claim hundreds of lives all at once that the damage caused in terms of economic and social elements is immeasurable (Module N° 5 – Risks, 2009). In the recent past, the aspect of safety in airlines has really come under strict scrutiny considering the number of helicopters that have crashed, with an appalling number fatalities and destruction to property. In February there was the TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600 crashed onto a bridge killing all the 53 and two pilots on board in march, the Germanwings A320-200 crashed in France killing all the 144 passengers and the six crews on board. In the latter case, one of the major investigation points relates to the fact that, one of the first officers is suspected of having brought down the plane. It is crashes such as these, which rekindle the elements of safety in the airline industry and the need to have better standards administered to all airlines and officers to ensure that safety of the passengers, the airlines and other stakeholders such as people on the ground and investors are not out under grave risks. Safety is thus one of the fundamental foundations of any airline businesses regardless of the number of flights that they operate, the experience of the pilots, it is the one element that should take center stage in every operation without or without the airlines. As such, a company such Blue Coral Copters is also affected by this aspect and it is crucial that they handle the various risks with their airline with caution to avert dangers, relative to safety mishaps (Module N° 6 – SMS regulation, 2009).
Company profile
Blue Coral Copters is a small company operating 10 single turbine engines helicopters in Hawaii. Owned by an entrepreneur called Nick Doobie, the company offers special tours of the island and beaches, for executive customers who mostly return to for their vacation relative to the attractive packages. The business has been profitable for owner and the staffs for quite some time, as the customers keep coming back. However, there are quite some risky elements about how the safety issues are handled at the company. Most of the helicopters are operated under the Visual Flight Rules, which means that there are not instrumentation assisted flying. The casual aspect of the safety of the helicopters and the laxity of the management is also appalling; relative to dangers it poses to the staffs and the customers among other stakeholders to the business. S quite a number of aspects will have to be reviewed and recommendations made on how best to improve the safety standards at the company to avert any risks that may befall the customers, their staffs or the people on the ground (Skybrary.aero, 2015).
Safety issues at Blue Coral Copters
Check rides
One of the major issues cited at the company operations is that fact that, the ride checks are casual and take place once a year. In most of the cases when the company finds it important to take the check rides, it is associated with the fact that there is a new pilot that is being brought on, or the fact that any of the pilots has had an incidence that has been brought to the attention of the owner (, 2015). One of the aspects that are crucial in case of a check ride is that, the tests have to be carried out by an FAA inspector, or an FAA designated pilot examiner. This means that while it is okay for the owner of the company who is an experienced pilot to test the pilots before hiring them; it is the mandate of the FAA to examine the pilots on their check rides for certification and rating. The check rides that are performed by the owner on the pilots, while they may be necessary for the sake of the business, they are not as valid as they deemed. It is important that the business forms a relationship with the FAA, where they make appointments for pilots’ check rides (, 2015). This way the business will not only come out as legitimately trying to improve the standards of their safety in flight, but also ensure that their pilots regardless of their experience are rated appropriately. It is not a safe standard unless it is certified by the relevant authorities, bearing in mind that this are regulatory bodies that do not have conflicting interests that may affect that owner (Pope, 2012).
Working hours
According to the company profile, some of the company pilots come in to fly six to seven days in a week, just to make sure that they have their pay and making the extra cash. The shifts are also not standard as pilots can be at work for ten hours or more (Faa.gov, 2015). As such, the company does not seem to have any set standard for the working hours that the pilots should take and how many days they should work every week. One of the major aspects that are discussed in safety management is the baseline performance. The employees are supposed to observe a certain level of performance, but due to the fact that the management is practicing laxity, there tends to be a degree of drift towards the operational performance. While the drift may seem like a small sacrifice for the baseline operations, it ends up becoming a costly affair with sorts of risks. In the case of the BCC, there some significant level of laxity in the standards related to how many hours a pilot can be at work and how long they should work for a week. With pilots working for a whole week due to the ultimate goals of making cash, the goal of the safety standards at the firm are lost (Federal Aviation Administration, 2007). It is important that the management appreciates the level of influence that human error is attributed to airplane crashes. Where the pilots are overworked, the results could be fatal especially if they are only motivated by money and they safety and that of the passengers. As recommended by the FAA, pilots should have a maximum of nine hours and rest for ten hours before they can resume duty; as required by FAA, they should not exceed 100 hours flying in a month (Faa.gov, 2015). Exhausted pilots have been known to bring down helicopters and thus fatigue should be incorporated into the safety guidelines at the company. Most importantly, the idea of working for more hours for extra pay and pushing the working days to seven in a week should be discouraged sternly (LOWY, 2011).
Bulletin board
Communication forms one of the core elements of a safety management system, relative to safety promotion. It also forms one of the pillars of hazards identification mechanism in the guidelines. As such it is not possible to elevate the standards of safety at an airline, if the communication standards are not raised as well. This ensures that all the staffs get the critical information timely and formally (Osha.gov, 2015). At the BCC, the bulletin boards are not visibly and even though they are updated, the format is rather casual and informal. At times, the board is not updated with any information and thus remains blank until there is a pressing issue that needs to be passed to the rest of the staff (Federal Aviation Administration, 2007). It is crucial that the bulletin boards are placed in a strategic position with an element of formality. It is also crucial that the updates on the board take a formal stride, to ensure that all the staffs come to the board. Having news on the board is okay, but there should be a board specifically for such informal announcements. This ensures that the information on the bulletin board carries an aspect of formality and quality.
Securing Cargo doors
In one of the incidences at the company, cargo doors opened while the helicopter was inflight and onboard were passengers, leading to some of the cameras and lunch boxes flying out of the helicopter. This is one of the many incidences that have taken place at the company, where negligence takes precedence and issues are brushed off as minor and inconsequential. While these may be taken for minor incidences, they point to a much deeper seated problem (Federal Aviation Administration, 2007). The aspect of having to check for the cargo doors and the h...