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RACCA Safety Initiative

Safety Management System

RACCA's Safety Committee rolled out the Association's new Safety Management System (SMS) during the plenary session at RACCA's 2009 Spring Conference – held this year at the imposing Marriott Westfields convention center near Dulles Airport.

      The new program, dubbed "SMS Lite," is a simplified system based upon a boilerplate Safety Manual published in MS Word format and available to RACCA members on the Association's website. The manual, and SMS Lite, are based upon the four major elements of safety management systems – Policy, Risk Management, Safety Assurance, and Safety Culture. The system is based upon AC 120-92, other FAA guidance material, and material from sources outside the FAA.

      "Our main objectives with SMS Lite were a workable safety management system, and simplicity – so RACCA members could reap the benefits of SMS without the complexity and large infrastructure associated with SMS programs intended for use by the large air carriers," said Tom Jordan of WestAir, RACCA's Safety Committee Chairman.

      The RACCA boilerplate SMS Manual is designed so operators can fill in certain blanks to tailor the document to their own company, add or subtract features to tailor the program to the needs of their own organization, and then introduce the system as a stand-alone safety manual, or chapter in their company's Operations, Personnel, or other manual. 

      The SMS was praised by FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nick Sabatini, who was RACCA's keynote conference speaker this year and was present during SMS Lite's introduction. Sabatini noted that the agency is strongly encouraging the adoption of SMS by all operators, and that it would likely eventually become a requirement. The program was a joint effort of Jordan and RACCA Safety Committee members Richard Mills (Empire Airlines) and John Hazlet (Ameriflight).

The latest available download is Revision 1 to the RACCA "boilerplate" SMS Lite manual. It incorporates several minor changes, one recommended by Nick Sabatini regarding top level executive commitment to the SMS, and a few others that arose from Dennis Pratte passing the original document around among the SMS gurus at FAA Hq. Incidentally, although the FAA has supported our SMS efforts, this should not be interpreted as FAA approval or acceptance of the document – it's not. They just had a look at it, made some constructive comments, and we chose to incorporate most of them. 

To download the overview of Safety Management System "Lite" in MS Powerpoint format Click Here for Adobe PDF format Click Here

To download the customizable Safety Management System "Lite" manual in MS Word Click Here

Supporting Materials for the RACCA Safety Initiative

Much of this material was introduced at the 2007 RACCA Spring Conference in Scottsdale. It is available for download here for your use. Bear in mind that these are generic documents, and you will need to amend, add, subtract, etc., to make them fit your own organization's training and operational needs. (please refer to disclaimer at the bottom of the page)

 

Fatigue Education Program

Initial Operating Experience and Interim Line Checks

Approved Ground De-Icing / Anti-Icing Program

Enhanced Flight Following

New Technology

  • Cockpit moving map displays: Arrangements are currently being finalized to afford RACCA members a significant factory discount on Garmin GNS-430W / 530W radios, which incorporate GPS-based moving map displays; we expect to be able to publish details in early August
  • Terrain advisory features: Arrangements are currently being finalized to afford RACCA members a significant factory discount on Garmin GNS-430W / 530W radios, which incorporate a GPS-based terrain warning feature; we expect to be able to publish details in early August
  • Affordable, simple autopilot: We are working with S-Tec on special RACCA pricing for the S-Tec System 30 autopilot, a simple heading-hold / altitude-hold unit which is widely STC'd, simple to install, reliable, and cost effective. 

In these litigious times, the Assocation must include this DISCLAIMER:

The materials provided on the RACCA Safety Corner web page were contributed by member operators as generic draft examples. They are intended for further development by individual operators so as to reflect those operators' operating environments, philosophies, personnel, and resources. Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association makes no representations or warranties as to the materials' sufficiency, validity, or efficacy. No person using them is entitled to rely upon them as presented – they require further development to incorporate appropriate operator-specific features. Persons preparing the material for training applications should consult competent advisors or counsel. 
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