FAA Safety November/December 2012 BRIEG FIN Your source for general aviation news and information Small Airplane Federal Aviation www.faa.gov/news/safety_briefing/ Administration The theme of the Nov/Dec 2012 issue of FAA Safety Briefing is “Small Airplane, Big World.” Articles explore the significance of general aviation on a more global scale and focus on the tools and resources that can help you operate safely beyond our borders. Features SAY ALTITUDE…IN METERS?! U.S. Department Changing Measures for a Changing World .........................................5 of Transportation BYE JAM S WILLIAMS Federal Aviation Administration I N THE KNOW WITH ICAO An Inside Look at the International Civil ISSN: 1057-9648 Aviation Organization ..........................................................................9 FAA Safety Briefing BY KIM MiLLER November/December 2012 Volume 51/Number 6 IsK MY TIC ET GOOD THERE? Raymond H. LaHood Secretary of Transportation Michael Huerta Acting Administrator The Ins and Outs of Overseas Flying ...................................................13 Margaret Gilligan Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety BYE JAM S WILLIAMS John M. Allen Director, Flight Standards Service Dennis Pratte Acting Manager, General Aviation and Commercial Division Susan Parson Editor L ET’S GO IsLAND HOPPING Tom Hoffmann Managing Editor Making Your Caribbean Dreams a Reality .......................................16 James R. Williams Associate Editor / Photo Editor BY TOM HOFFMANN Sabrina Woods Assistant Editor Paul Cianciolo Assistant Editor Will Daniel Muddsimmons Assistant Copy Editor ( DON’T GET) LOST IN TRANSLATION John Mitrione Art Director Mastering the Language of Aviation ................................................. 20 Guy Tom Designer BY SUSAN PARSON Published six times a year, FAA Safety Briefing, formerly FAA Aviation News, promotes aviation safety by discussing current technical, regulatory, and procedural aspects affecting the safe operation and maintenance of aircraft. LNICE SE TO SKILL Although based on current FAA policy and rule interpretations, all material Opportunities Abound for AMTs ....................................................... 24 is advisory or informational in nature and should not be construed to have regulatory effect. Certain details of accidents described herein may have BYB SA RINA WOODS been altered to protect the privacy of those involved. 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You can also call (202) 512-1800 or 1-866-512-1800 and ask for Customer Service, or fax your FAA Faces ..................................................................Inside Back Cover information to (202) 512-2104. JOHN ALLEN DIRECTOR, FLIGHT STANDARds SERVICE Think Globally, Act Locally It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand daily activities. Do you put your car keys in the same that aviation is inherently global. And that means place at home? If so, that’s your SMS to reduce the that aviation safety is a global challenge. That’s risk of losing them. Do you use a “to do” list, or one of the reasons that the United States works maybe a reminder app on your smartphone? If so, closely with its aviation partners in organizations that’s your SMS to reduce the risk of overlooking like the International Civil Aviation Organization important tasks. (ICAO). Though we sometimes find different ways If we use SMS for the little things in our daily to address a given safety issue, we all agree on the lives, it stands to reason that we should make even fundamental points. greater use of such risk reduction techniques in One of those fundamental points of agreement aviation, where the stakes is the need to grapple more effectively with the are so much higher. I often human element in aviation safety. There was a time tell pilots that if you have a Though we might have a different when a significant number of aviation accidents logbook for your airplane, you name for it, most of us use SMS all could be attributed to a mechanical cause. Thanks already have an aviation SMS. the time in many daily activities. to advances in technology and today’s meticulous That simple document can be investigation of accidents, we now have both the a tool to perform the three critical steps in any SMS: means and the data to design fixes for many of yes- observe and record hazards; analyze and identify terday’s mechanical malfunctions. risks; eliminate or mitigate those risks. Using even It is a much tougher task to design fixes for something as simple as a logbook to take those human errors, especially in a system as complex as three steps means that you are shifting from reli- the one we operate today. History shows that even ance on forensics — analyzing what already went when we can design fixes for human error, humans wrong — to an approach that uses data analysis to have a remarkable ability to invent new mistakes, or show trends, and point to safety decisions that pre- find new ways of making old mistakes. vent the accident. Another aspect of SMS is the evolution of the SMS — Global Concepts, Local Actions regulatory function. It is not possible for the FAA But that doesn’t mean we should give up. On to “inspect safety into the system,” and it’s clear the contrary, there are certainly things we can do. A that rote compliance with the letter of the law is focus on the overall system, especially the human not enough. Transition to SMS also means that the element, is why ICAO, the United States, and many role of the regulator must evolve. We must realize other countries have embraced the concept of that the focus of responsibility and accountabil- safety management systems, or SMS, on a global ity for safety rests with the certificate holder, and basis. Since SMS affects every part of the aviation inspector-regulators must use data to find and focus industry, let me tell you why I believe SMS is not on the areas of greatest risk. In addition, regulators only the right thing to do, but also an essential must learn to use safety motivation approaches, not “global” tool we need to guide our “local” (indi- a reflexive reliance on the enforcement tool, as a vidual) actions in ways that will make our aviation means of promoting safety and building a healthier, system safer than ever. safety-oriented relationship. Just in case you dismiss SMS as yet another Aviation offers a significant, indeed essential, layer of paper-generating bureaucracy, let’s first take service to the world’s economies and cultures. Given a minute to think about what a safety management that fact, governments and operators of all sizes system really is. Though we might have a different must embrace SMS as a means to think globally, act name for it, most of us use SMS all the time in many locally, and help assure safety in this critical sector. November/December 2012 FAA Safety Briefing 1 A T I S Aviation News Roundup Pilot’s Bill of Rights U.K., the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, In light of the new Pilot’s Bill of Rights, signed and Sweden. into law on August 3, 2012, the FAA’s website now has For more information on the status of GPS and