With just about five weeks to go before the Foundation’s 63rd annual Business Aviation Safety Summit (BASS 2018) starts in Chicago, I’d like to encourage you all to register to attend if you haven’t done so already.
Every year since 1955, we have been gathering the business aviation community’s foremost safety experts to discuss existing and emerging risks and what the industry can do to continue to improve its safety performance. BASS often is characterized by provocative subject matter and lively discussions, and this year will be no exception.
Our first day (May 10) keynote speaker will be Tom Costello, a correspondent with NBC News who has lengthy experience covering aviation and is sure to offer much food for thought about our industry and how it is viewed from the outside.
This year we are bringing back the popular Year in Review, in which we’ll take a look at 2017’s safety performance with an eye to setting up discussions about 2018 and beyond. During our two days in Chicago, we will focus on measuring operational performance and how that impacts safety, and there will be a presentation on a systems engineering approach to safety performance indicators (SPIs). I think this will be a particularly important session given our Global Safety Information Project findings that indicate there are many diverse opinions and practices regarding SPIs in the industry.
BASS 2018 also will feature presentations on how airplanes are designed and built to address safety and human factors issues, and we’ll talk about building training programs and the guidance and standards for those programs. Mark Millam, the Foundation’s vice president, technical, is scheduled to address the Foundation’s recently released — and widely commented upon — position paper on pilot competency and training.
The approach and landing phases of flight, in which a large percentage of all accidents and incidents occur, will be addressed in depth. Fabio Couto Bonnett, air safety investigator, flight operations, at manufacturer Embraer, will deliver the Day Two keynote address on Self-Management: The Key to a Safe Flight. We’ll also get an update on the Foundation’s Go-Around Decision-Making and Execution Project, as well as presentations on safety culture and loss of control.
Everyone at the Foundation looks forward to seeing you in Chicago May 10–11. I am confident you will find it time well spent.
