‘Tis the season for yearend reviews assessing aviation over the past calendar 12 months. There are three below: the first, pronouncing the successes of 10 FAA 2023 initiatives; the second, a soporific White House press release declaring successes in activities with little mention of their remedial values for specific, prioritized safety risks; the third review the year from a global perspective.
None point to the most powerful tool for evaluation and more importantly remedying the human and technical blips on the aviation safety radar. Global Aviation has instituted, and now it’s a proven proactive resource, Safety Management System, and its best aperture into what needs to be addressed is NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System. This article explains the power of this instrument.
As 2023 sunsets behind aviation, its data tracks (add FOQA, VDRP, etc.) guide us as the 2024 priorities and safety solutions. Looking back should help us as we fly forward.
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Analysis: FAA 2023 safety initiatives in review
Photo Credit: FAA
Continuing its work to improve aviation safety, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tasked a PANEL OF FATIGUE EXPERTS to identify new ways to address air traffic controller fatigue.
This crucial initiative, which becomes the latest FAA safety initiative in what has been a busy year, involves a three-member panel of fatigue experts tasked with exploring innovative solutions to enhance the well-being of air traffic controllers.
Let’s delve into the FAA’s latest efforts and the broader scope of actions undertaken in 2023 to fortify the nation’s aviation safety.
The Expert Panel
The expert panel, set to commence its work in early January, comprises distinguished professionals in the field.
Chaired by safety and sleep/fatigue expert Mark Rosekind, the panel also includes Charles Czeisler and Dr. Erin Flynn-Evans, both renowned authorities in sleep and circadian disorders.
Their collective expertise is poised to bring about groundbreaking insights into addressing controller fatigue.
2023 in Review: Safety Initiatives Unveiled
“We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted. Recent events remind us that we must not become complacent. Now is the time to stare into the data and ask hard questions,” Billy Nolen, former Acting FAA Administrator stated earlier this year.
In February 2023 former FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen issued a Safety Call to Action with the goal of ensuring that infrastructure was fit for purpose for the U.S. aerospace system both now and into the future.
As we reflect on the year 2023, the FAA has unfolded a series of initiatives geared towards elevating aviation safety standards. Let’s explore some notable actions taken by the FAA:
1. Cockpit Voice-Recording Extension
One significant proposal involves extending the cockpit voice-recording requirement. The current two-hour data retention regulation may be extended to 25 hours for all newly manufactured aircraft.
This move aims to enhance incident identification, prevention, and align more closely with international standards.
2. Independent Aviation Safety Review Team
Established in April 2023, the Independent Aviation Safety Review Team diligently examined ways to boost safety and reliability in the air traffic system.
Their comprehensive assessment, presented in November 2023, outlined concrete recommendations to advance air traffic safety.
Jakkrit Prasertwit (GFDL 1.2 or GFDL 1.2), via Wikimedia Commons
3. Runway Safety Measures
The FAA took proactive steps to improve runway safety, scheduling 16 additional runway safety meetings for 2023 and investing over $200 million in enhanced lighting at airports.
This includes fast-tracking initiatives to address specific safety concerns on airport surfaces and forming a new advisory committee to explore advanced technologies like cockpit-alerting systems.
4. Controller “Stand Up for Safety” Campaign
In an effort to ensure the well-being of its controller workforce, the FAA launched the “STAND UP FOR SAFETY” campaign.
This series mandates special emphasis training for controllers, focusing on their safety in diverse operational scenarios.
Photo Credit: Joe Ambrogino via Pexels
5. Surface Safety Industry Day
On June 6, 2023, the FAA hosted the Surface Safety Industry Day, seeking innovative solutions for surface situational awareness.
The event aimed to identify cost-effective technological solutions to enhance awareness in environments lacking surface surveillance capabilities.
6. Air Traffic Organization Commitments
The FAA’s Air Traffic Organization pledged to enhance safety by ensuring supervisors focus on operations during peak traffic periods, providing specialized training for unusual circumstances, and issuing safety alerts with specific recommendations.
The FACT SHEET is a 1,012 word compendium of a lot of activities that were initiated, and a few completed, during 2023. First accomplishment announced is the appointment of a new Administrator, highly qualified as he is, but what was not mentioned was the bungling of nominating someone whom even some Democrats admitted was not ready for the job and the insertion of individuals with political credentials greater than aviation judgment. Read it if you want to learn what they claim. The discourse is lacking in how these activities were driven by specific safety risk analyses.
SECOND SAFEST YEAR ON RECORD FOR AIRLINE SAFETY
December 31, 2023
The 2023 year was the second safest on record for airline safety with only five fatal crashes claiming 105 lives according to the website aviation-safety.net.
The airline safety numbers are:
Total number of flights: 35 million
Serious incidents: 1213
Accidents: 134
Fatal Accidents: 5
Deaths: 105
The five-year average is 13 accidents a year and 300 deaths.
Worst Crash
The WORST CRASH (above) in 2023 was the loss of a Yeti Airlines ATR72 on January 15, 2023, in NEPAL which claimed 72 LIVES. The non-flying captain feathered the propellers instead of lowering the flaps, causing a loss of forward thrust and the aircraft stalled and crashed. There were no survivors.
Airlineratings.com is packed with information about air travel and answers questions that many of us may have thought of but didn’t know who to ask. Well, now you do!
Airlineratings.com was developed to provide everyone in the world with a one-stop shop for everything related to airlines, formed by a team of aviation editors, who have forensically researched nearly every airline in the world.
Our rating system is rated from one to seven stars on safety – with seven being the highest ranking. Within each airline, you will find the country of origin, airline code, booking URL and seat map information. The rating system takes into account a number of different factors related to audits from aviation’s governing bodies, lead associations as well as the airline’s own safety data. Every airline has a safety rating breakdown so you can see exactly how they rate.
Over 230 of the airlines on the site that carry 99 per cent of the world’s passengers have a product rating. Given that low-cost, regional and full-service carriers are so different we have constructed a different rating system for each which can be found within each airline.