This week, the GAJSC met in Washington, DC. At the meeting, the NTSB provided a detailed overview of the new eADMS for the storage, retrieval, and management of information associated with its aviation accident/incident investigations. This new eADMS is an important educational resource that will be beneficial to the work of the GAJSC and other safety improvement efforts.
The GAJSC also discussed recommendations for the FAA regarding the post-2018 safety metric. (The FAA’s current goal for GA safety is to have no more than 1.00 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours of flight by the end of FY18.) The GAJSC will revisit this topic in early 2018 to provide additional information to the FAA. Additionally, the GAJSC discussed expanding work on SE-41 (survivability) to help inform ongoing efforts related to aircraft technologies and structures. Finally, the FAA briefed the GAJSC on the safety benefits enabled through the new Part 23 regulations, including small airplanes certified for icing, reducing the risk of loss of control, and improving survivability by leveraging lessons learned from other modes of transportation.
Yesterday, NTSB Member Earl F. Weener met with the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team to present on NTSB’s Most Wanted List, general aviation accident statistics, and the GAJSC’s work. The U.S. Helicopter Safety Team, an organization aimed at reducing the U.S. civil fatal helicopter accident rate, is adopting a process based on the work of the GAJSC and CAST to analyze U.S. civil fatal helicopter accidents and develop data-driven safety interventions. More information about the U.S. Helicopter Safety Team is available at http://www.ushst.org/.