Search

Safety is the priority in aviation; policies adopted by 14 CFR Part 141 Flight Schools aim to increase safety awareness while conducting flight operations. The additional evaluations through knowledge tests and check rides at each stage of flight training can may contribute to student stress. Collegiate Part 141 flight schools have students with increased workloads and stress from the combination of courses and flight training. This ex post facto research evaluated the types of events and the frequency of Operational Mishaps and Incident Reports (OMIRs) at a collegiate, Part 141 flight school in the southeastern US. The study reviewed all reports during a three-year period and classified them into four categories: Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) violation, Flight Operations Manual (FOM), safety concern, or miscellaneous. Reports were evaluated across four-week intervals of the fall and spring semesters. There was no statistical difference between the number of OMIRs submitted by 4- week interval during the semester. This indicated that OMIRs are submitted in a relatively constant quantity throughout the duration of each semester. There was a significant difference in number of OMIRs by event type. Most OMIRs were Flight Operations Manual violations or safety concerns. This is a positive outcome from a safety perspective because the most frequent reports were not violations of FARs. These results also indicated that pilots are actively participating in the safety management system, submitting reports, even for relatively minor concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety management systems are implemented in aviation to assess and iteratively improve on safety, with the goal of monitoring and maintaining a strong safety culture to reduce risks and avoid future incidents and accidents. Maintaining a strong safety culture is a critical component of maintaining safety in organizations from airlines to flight schools. Safety management systems (SMSs) stress iterative assessment and improvement in order to decrease risk. Regular assessment of safety culture allows for the promotion of safety. The purpose of this study was to examine safety culture at a collegiate flight school in the southeastern United States using the Global Aviation Information Network’s (GAIN) individual safety survey (2001) and determine if different groups within the organization had different perceptions of safety: undergraduate students in ground courses, maintenance personnel, and flight instructors. Overall, survey results indicated a positive safety culture. Although there was a significant difference in responses between students in Aeronautics 1 and 4, the effect size indicated that the difference was quite small, and there were no significant differences between any other groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]