The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF), in partnership with AirSync and CloudAhoy, is offering a low-cost flight data monitoring (FDM) program to the more than 300 small and medium Part 135 operators that are member companies, the organization announced Monday at NBAA-BACE 2022.
This move comes as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has called for the FAA to mandate FDM programs on all passenger-carrying operations. In fact, the Safety Board views FDM so beneficial that it has included the recommendation on its latest "Most Wanted" list of safety improvements.
Through the ACSF partnership, operators will have access to AirSyncâs hardwareâa device the size of a smartphoneâand CloudAhoyâs software at an annual cost of just under $4,000, ACSF president Bryan Burns told AIN. â[With] flight data monitoring youâre taking parameters, data points off the airplane,â he said. âSo if you extended the flaps, overspeed, or did something, there are several parameters you could be monitoring.â
FDM documents an entire flight on what occurred and allows users to set parameters that an operator exceeds. In such instances, a parameter thatâs been exceeded shows up as a red flag. âA lot of charter owners, operators, and presidents ask the question, âHow do you know what the pilot is doing?ââ Burns added. âThis captures the data.â Three companies completed a year-long beta test of ACSFâs FDM program, he added.
Burns emphasized that the information derived from flight data monitors is not meant to be punitive and should not be used for disciplinary action by company managers or the FAA. âYou do and the whole thing will implode,â Burns said. âThis is all about coaching. This is all about educatingâ
FDM works in concert with ACSFâs aviation safety action plan (ASAP) program administered in collaboration with the FAA. ASAP provides a non-punitive avenue for an organization's employeesâincluding pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, ground handlers, and othersâto report safety violations and deficiencies. These reports are reviewed and used to address problems and the data is accumulated to discover more systemic safety issues, âYouâre learning from others,â he explained. âYouâre sharing mistakes and errors not only internally but with colleagues and the industry. And itâs a wealth of information, a wealth of data, that you can analyze and hopefully correct.â
Like ACSFâs ASAP database, operators will be able to benchmark FDM data with other ACSF member companies. Year to date, there have been more than 2,000 reports filed through ACSFâs ASAP database.
âIf youâre doing just culture, SMS, industry audit standards, ASAP, and FDM, in my view youâre managing and mitigating risk at its highest levels,â Burns concluded.