Agenda of the EOFDM Conference 2013

Presentations:

• FDM techniques to monitor the take-off overrun risk (not published), Hasan Mir, Senior Operations Engineer, Emirates
• FDM and safety promotion, Dragos Munteanu, Head of Flight Safety & Quality Department, TAROM
• An analytical approach to landing performance risk assessment, Jacob de Jong on behalf of Eric Kruijsen, Flight Safety, KLM
• Monitoring the landing overrun risk using FDM: tips and tricks, Gerard van Es, Senior advisor Flight Safety and Operations , NLR (presentation cancelled, however the author approved publication)
• Statistics in FDM, Dr. Matthew Greaves and David Barry, Lecturers, Cranfield University
• Detecting abnormal features in flight data, Hélder Mendes, Flight Data Analysis Manager, TAP, and Nicolas Chrysanthos, PhD Student, Technical University of Troyes
• Reducing the rate of false FDM events, Edouard Garnier de Labareyre, FDM system Engineer , SAGEM and Thierry Donadey, FDM Engineering, Air France
• Setting up FDM on a new-old airplane variant, challenges and solutions, Capt. Mattias Pak, VP Head of Aviation Safety, Cargolux
• Implementing FDM in a small operator, Adrian Young, Manager Quality and Safety, Denim Air, and Capt. Alexander Mularski, Type Rating Examiner and Quality Assurance, Sirio
• Applying Just Culture Principles in a FDM programme, a pilot’s view, Capt. Paul Reuter, Training Captain at Luxair and representing the European Cockpit Association
• The new EOFDM organisation, Guillaume Aigoin, FDM Expert, EASA, and Capt. Bertrand de Courville, Corporate Safety Manager, Air France
• Briefing on EOFDM working group A, Capt. Bertrand de Courville, Corporate Safety Manager, Air France, and Joao Brites, FDM Assistant Manager, Netjets
• Briefing on EOFDM working group B, Gabriele di Maio, Head of Flight Data Analysis Department, Alitalia, and Dr Matthew Greaves, Lecturer, Cranfield University
• Briefing on EOFDM working group C, Capt. Joe Elliott, Deputy Safety Manager, Aer Lingus
• Progress of the European Authorities coordination group on FDM (EAFDM), Guillaume Aigoin, FDM Expert, EASA
• UK CAA’s FDM-based precursors project update, David Wright, FDM Specialist and Research Project manager, CAA UK.

This will be an important one-day event aimed at providing the first feedback on the progress made in terms of runway safety best practices one year after the ICAO Global Runway Safety Symposium held in Montreal.

For more information, visit the atcglobal website.

Agenda of the EOFDM conference 2012

Introduction by Bertrand de Courville – Capt A330/340 and ECAST Co-chair

Presentations:

• ECAST and the EOFDM Project, Capt. Bertrand de Courville, Corporate Safety Manager, Air France.
• Results of EOFDM survey, Guillaume Aigoin, FDM Expert, EASA.
• Integration of FDM into an operator Safety Management System, Dragos Munteanu, Head of Flight Safety; Quality, TAROM and Capt. Jussi Laaksonen, Safety Manager, FinnComm Airlines. Note that only the part presented by Mr Munteanu is published.
• FDM and just culture – not published, Omar Rodriguez, Flight Safety Manager, Air Europa.
• Monitoring OPS issues, Capt. Bertrand de Courville, Corporate Safety Manager, Air France
• Characterisation of Deep and Long Landings and of the Runway Excursion Risk, Capt. Michael Wendt, Flight Safety Officer, Lufthansa, and Pere Fabregas, Flight Data Analyst, Vueling.
• Using FDM for Fatigue Risk Management - not published, Tuomas Tuisku, Safety Engineer, FinnComm Airlines
• Characterising hard landings, Guillaume Aigoin, FDM Expert, EASA.
  Related to this presentation: AIA Best Practices – Inspection Processes following high load events 
• Searching for hidden FDM events, Joao Brites, FDM Team Leader, NetJets.
• Two examples of FDM data retention policies – not published, Capt. Joe Elliott, Flight Safety Officer, Aer Lingus and Joao Brites, FDM Team Leader, NetJets
• An introduction to ATQP and the use of FDM to establish training objectives, Capt. Keith Dyce, Flight Manager SESMA & ATQP, British Airways.
• How FDM is used to optimize training at TAG Aviation, Malcolm Rusby, European Safety Director, TAG Aviation.
• Implementation of an individual performance follow up system, Captain Pascal Midy, Flight Safety Manager, Europe Airpost.
• Learning about unstabilised approaches through animations, Joris Wenderich, FDM Administrator, Transavia.
• High Bandwidth Event Briefings – Google Earth Visualisation, Simon Lie, Air Safety Investigator, Boeing.
• Data quality issues in safety programs, Colin Barnett, Operations Manager, Flight Data Analysis, IATA.
• European Authorities coordination group on FDM (EAFDM), David Wright, FDM Specialist and Research Project manager, CAA UK.
• FDM data use in the framework of ASIAS and Infoshare, James Fee, U.S. CAST Representative, FAA.

“We should all understand that we are not in the business of making shoes” These words were those of Wernher von Braun, chief of the successful Saturn V project.

His speech was dedicated to key managers and beyond, to all personnel involved. Some may think we cannot compare. I do not agree. His message was: “Be proud of what you are doing, know the hazards, never underestimate the risk, never forget that human lives are involved, and that people who trust you are watching you”. How do the expectations of the aviation industry differ from these? They don’t.

Today our customers’ expectations make commercial aviation very challenging. We are operating in a “zero tolerance” environment regarding accidents. At the same time we must stay economically viable. Flying has always and will always produce risks. The documented processes, safety equipment, standard operating procedures, and certified training programmes which we must utilize might be perceived as pure administrative or bureaucratic costs. In reality, most of them reflect the lessons learnt from years of experience, billions of flight hours and a significant number of past accidents analysis. A few weeks in major airline operations gather more experience than the whole career of a single individual agent. For this simple reason we have to respect these rules. Because all these requirements are documented, checked, crosschecked, and audited we can prove that we are in regulatory compliance. While fundamental this regulatory aspect of our business will not make us safe enough.

If we look at our aircrafts’ cockpits and cabins, we may notice that a lot of work has been done during the past 20 years. In addition to design improvements, key characteristics of safe and efficient crews have been identified and put into practice. When we observe the following evidence: captain’s leadership, commitment to comply with the rules, clear tasks sharing, open communication, appropriate level of risk awareness related to each task and phase of flight, error management, ability to listen and to actively look for information to make safe decisions, then without hesitation, we can say we have an optimum crew. This goes much beyond meeting regulatory requirements.

What is true for our crew today is also true at a corporate level. We need good management leadership, strong culture of compliance, open communication at every level enabling a continuous learning and adaptation process, ability to look for information and ideas from outside to adopt best practices, recognition of human error as part of every human activity, use of “fail safe” processes and procedures in accordance with error management principles.

When such a professional culture at the front line meets its equivalent at the corporate level, all the prerequisites are there to be a safe organisation. When the question of cost will be raised, “production” and “protection” aspects will be addressed with an equal attention. The safest possible “balance” will be maintained.

Definitely, we are not “in the business of making shoes”.