Indeed there is some progress as some of the Southern and Eastern Africa countries are striving to ensure they maintain safety standards.
Safety Management Systems at Proflight Zambia
Proflight Zambia operates charter and scheduled flights into bush airstrips and major airports in and around Zambia.Proflight operates 12 aircraft with around 25 pilots.
The safety Management System (SMS), developed in 2008 helps them to create a safe working environment, in which unsafe acts and conditions are eliminated. Safety of any operation is always the first consideration when evaluating methods and means of accomplishing any operational goals .Proflight Zambia has continually improved the safety of their operations by identifying, eliminating or mitigating any deficiencies in conditions, policies or procedures.
It was a challenging task for the Safety Officer for implementing the first SMS for the company. They have progressed from a basic reporting system to a more complex system incorporating categories of reporting and a disciplined approach towards maintaining a log-all aiming towards creating a method through which safety goals and targets can be set and trends can be obtained and monitored. The groundwork involved all departments within the company, compiling ideas and developing a template through which we could develop a safety manual as a guidance tool for safety management.
Meetings with both management and flight crew were held to introduce the ideologies of the SMS and also to discuss ideas. After the meeting and exchanging ideas reporting forms being used were created.A simple standard reporting form with sections for relevant safety matters, i.e incident, occurrence, hazard,etc is easy for flight crew and staff to fill out, factoring in confidentiality. Their Flight Dispatch department is required to include these safety forms in each captain's folder for their flights each day, so that crews have ready access to these forms when away from base. All of the safety forms used are designed to accommodate all operations by Proflight Zambia. Their forms are a combination of best practices obtained from the South Africa Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Australia and Flight Safety Foundations GAIN programmes "Operators Flight Safety Handbook".
They have a whiteboard in the Flight Dispatch office as one effective method we use for reporting hazards. Pilots may report hazards with a brief description, mentioning the date and location and outlining the actions taken to eliminate this hazard. These hazards can then be reviewed by other crews reporting for duty that may be operating a flight into an aerodrome or area where this hazard was first identified. They operate a scheduled and charter services into many remote parts and game reserves of Zambia, where bird hazards, animal activity and runway surface hazards have been identified. All serious hazards go through a risk analysis outlined in the SMS,which is reviewed by the company's key safety personnel consisting of the CEO,Operations Managers, Fleet Managers and Maintenance Director. Decisions are then made on the most effective ways of mitigating these hazards.
Since 2008, through the implementation of the SMS they have had a marked increase in their reported incidents, occurrences, bird strike reports and hazards as compared to previous years. This amount of reporting has assisted us in identifying problem areas. In turn, this has notably brought about a drop in the number of incidents. A strong reporting system has proven to be beneficial, resulting in better management of maintenance related issues, incidents due to hazards, and ATC related events and operational matters that have been acted on or eliminated since.
The development of the SMS at Proflight has definitely brought about greater ‘safety awareness' to the limitations and risks posed due to hazards and occurrences-and has proven to be an effective tool, which we highly recommend for aviation organizations to develop and implement. The SMS at Proflight Zambia is constantly evolving and we make necessary amendments to keep a ‘just culture' and ensure safety is first priority in all of our operations.
They would like to further their SMS by sharing information and data with non-confidential content to learn from experiences of other operators in this part of Africa.Currently, in Zambia they do not have any means through which safety information can be shared effectively between operators.Alsodue to limited Internet access, many organizations and safety staff cannot access safety data relevant to their operations and geographic locations. Sharing this, through the launch of the Safety Focus magazine by the Aviassist Foundation, would be an incredible way for aviation safety professionals in Eastern & Southern Africa target audiences that would otherwise not have access to this information.
All in all, we would like to commend the Aviassist Foundation for running many courses in the region that have benefited aviation organizations, especially smaller organizations with limited budgets. The introduction of the Safety Focus flagship magazine may just provide a unique and effective communication link between airlines in this part of the world, promoting an even stronger drive for improving aviation safety in Africa.
CASSOA Gets Into Action
The East Africa Community Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) conducted a two-week workshop on Aviation Security Threat Assessment and Risk Management in Mombasa,Kenya.The two week training aimed at developing capacity on threat assessment and risk management in the civil aviation sector. It attracted more than 90 aviation and security experts in the region.
The main objectives of CASSOA are to ensure coordinated development of an effective and sustainable civil aviation safety and security oversight infrastructure in the East African Community.CASSOA works on the basis of a 5 year strategic plan. In prioritizing the safety challenges that it needs to address, it uses the ICAO audit reports as well as an ICAO Gap analysis. The five partner states (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania & Uganda) are required to implement developed corrective action plans from their ICAO audits. Neither CASSOA nor individual partner states have adequate financial and technical capacities to address all these issues sustainably individually.
CASSOA moved from Arusha, Tanzania to its permanent headquarters in Entebbe, Uganda earlier this year.
ICAO .Africa Safety Plan Beating Its Targets
The first phase of the International Civil Aviation Organization –led African Comprehensive Implementation Programme (ACIP) ,launched in 2007, has completed much of its work a year a head of target, says ICAOs Secretary general Raymond Benjamin. The AFI plan has three "focus areas": establishing and maintaining an effective and sustainable safety oversight system, assisting states to resolve identified deficiencies [identified under the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme] and enhancing the aviation safety culture.
ICAO has boosted staffing at its African offices to co-ordinate the plan, largely depending on the regional pooling of safety oversight resources and expertise.
Expenditure on oversight often features low on the list of political priorities in Africa. When officials have received their training for an inspector's job, their new skills are more highly rewarded in the private than public sectors, so they leave. Pooling in one way of enabling expertise to be rewarded, and thus retained. The first regional authority, the Banjul Accord Group, is in operation, other agreements are in formation. Adoption of CIP going forward to 2015 is on the agenda for the ICAO assembly last month.
Towards Joint Safety Oversight In SADC
ICAO facilities international aviation regulatory harmonization through a program dubbed "Cooperative Operational Safety and continuing Airworthiness Program"(COSCAP).Each COSCAP concentrates on a group of African States. With four COSCAP projects underway in Africa, Botswana is the host country for the COSCAP project affecting the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) States and this project is funded by SADC.
Common goals of the COSCAPs are to harmonize regulations & procedures between the participating states,15 in the case of SADC.COSCAP aims to harmonize best practices for Air Operator Certification & Inspection (surveillance).The ultimate goal is to establish a(semi-) permanent regional safety organization, mandated to carry out some or all of the certification and surveillance functions on behalf of the SADC States. The regional organization could also function as a training resource center.
COSCAP-SADC has developed an electronic database to track implementation of the comprehensive training plan for SADC state and regional inspectors. A Flight Safety Working Group (FSWG) has been established. It is composed of ICAO technical experts, regional technical and legal specialists from the SADC States and technical partners donated by the Federal AVIATION Administration for the purpose of facilitating regulatory and procedural harmonization. A key achievement of COSCAP SADC has been the development of a Model Civil Aviation Act and generic regulations, approved by the project steering committee.
These approved generic regulations are intended to be incorporated into each states own regulatory safety system. They will serve as the instrument for regulatory harmonization in the SADC states. Upon adoption, the SADC states civil aviation regulations conform to Annexes 1,6 and 8.
Safety Management Systems at Proflight Zambia
Proflight Zambia operates charter and scheduled flights into bush airstrips and major airports in and around Zambia.Proflight operates 12 aircraft with around 25 pilots.
The safety Management System (SMS), developed in 2008 helps them to create a safe working environment, in which unsafe acts and conditions are eliminated. Safety of any operation is always the first consideration when evaluating methods and means of accomplishing any operational goals .Proflight Zambia has continually improved the safety of their operations by identifying, eliminating or mitigating any deficiencies in conditions, policies or procedures.
It was a challenging task for the Safety Officer for implementing the first SMS for the company. They have progressed from a basic reporting system to a more complex system incorporating categories of reporting and a disciplined approach towards maintaining a log-all aiming towards creating a method through which safety goals and targets can be set and trends can be obtained and monitored. The groundwork involved all departments within the company, compiling ideas and developing a template through which we could develop a safety manual as a guidance tool for safety management.
Meetings with both management and flight crew were held to introduce the ideologies of the SMS and also to discuss ideas. After the meeting and exchanging ideas reporting forms being used were created.A simple standard reporting form with sections for relevant safety matters, i.e incident, occurrence, hazard,etc is easy for flight crew and staff to fill out, factoring in confidentiality. Their Flight Dispatch department is required to include these safety forms in each captain's folder for their flights each day, so that crews have ready access to these forms when away from base. All of the safety forms used are designed to accommodate all operations by Proflight Zambia. Their forms are a combination of best practices obtained from the South Africa Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) in Australia and Flight Safety Foundations GAIN programmes "Operators Flight Safety Handbook".
They have a whiteboard in the Flight Dispatch office as one effective method we use for reporting hazards. Pilots may report hazards with a brief description, mentioning the date and location and outlining the actions taken to eliminate this hazard. These hazards can then be reviewed by other crews reporting for duty that may be operating a flight into an aerodrome or area where this hazard was first identified. They operate a scheduled and charter services into many remote parts and game reserves of Zambia, where bird hazards, animal activity and runway surface hazards have been identified. All serious hazards go through a risk analysis outlined in the SMS,which is reviewed by the company's key safety personnel consisting of the CEO,Operations Managers, Fleet Managers and Maintenance Director. Decisions are then made on the most effective ways of mitigating these hazards.
Since 2008, through the implementation of the SMS they have had a marked increase in their reported incidents, occurrences, bird strike reports and hazards as compared to previous years. This amount of reporting has assisted us in identifying problem areas. In turn, this has notably brought about a drop in the number of incidents. A strong reporting system has proven to be beneficial, resulting in better management of maintenance related issues, incidents due to hazards, and ATC related events and operational matters that have been acted on or eliminated since.
The development of the SMS at Proflight has definitely brought about greater ‘safety awareness' to the limitations and risks posed due to hazards and occurrences-and has proven to be an effective tool, which we highly recommend for aviation organizations to develop and implement. The SMS at Proflight Zambia is constantly evolving and we make necessary amendments to keep a ‘just culture' and ensure safety is first priority in all of our operations.
They would like to further their SMS by sharing information and data with non-confidential content to learn from experiences of other operators in this part of Africa.Currently, in Zambia they do not have any means through which safety information can be shared effectively between operators.Alsodue to limited Internet access, many organizations and safety staff cannot access safety data relevant to their operations and geographic locations. Sharing this, through the launch of the Safety Focus magazine by the Aviassist Foundation, would be an incredible way for aviation safety professionals in Eastern & Southern Africa target audiences that would otherwise not have access to this information.
All in all, we would like to commend the Aviassist Foundation for running many courses in the region that have benefited aviation organizations, especially smaller organizations with limited budgets. The introduction of the Safety Focus flagship magazine may just provide a unique and effective communication link between airlines in this part of the world, promoting an even stronger drive for improving aviation safety in Africa.
CASSOA Gets Into Action
The East Africa Community Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) conducted a two-week workshop on Aviation Security Threat Assessment and Risk Management in Mombasa,Kenya.The two week training aimed at developing capacity on threat assessment and risk management in the civil aviation sector. It attracted more than 90 aviation and security experts in the region.
The main objectives of CASSOA are to ensure coordinated development of an effective and sustainable civil aviation safety and security oversight infrastructure in the East African Community.CASSOA works on the basis of a 5 year strategic plan. In prioritizing the safety challenges that it needs to address, it uses the ICAO audit reports as well as an ICAO Gap analysis. The five partner states (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania & Uganda) are required to implement developed corrective action plans from their ICAO audits. Neither CASSOA nor individual partner states have adequate financial and technical capacities to address all these issues sustainably individually.
CASSOA moved from Arusha, Tanzania to its permanent headquarters in Entebbe, Uganda earlier this year.
ICAO .Africa Safety Plan Beating Its Targets
The first phase of the International Civil Aviation Organization –led African Comprehensive Implementation Programme (ACIP) ,launched in 2007, has completed much of its work a year a head of target, says ICAOs Secretary general Raymond Benjamin. The AFI plan has three "focus areas": establishing and maintaining an effective and sustainable safety oversight system, assisting states to resolve identified deficiencies [identified under the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme] and enhancing the aviation safety culture.
ICAO has boosted staffing at its African offices to co-ordinate the plan, largely depending on the regional pooling of safety oversight resources and expertise.
Expenditure on oversight often features low on the list of political priorities in Africa. When officials have received their training for an inspector's job, their new skills are more highly rewarded in the private than public sectors, so they leave. Pooling in one way of enabling expertise to be rewarded, and thus retained. The first regional authority, the Banjul Accord Group, is in operation, other agreements are in formation. Adoption of CIP going forward to 2015 is on the agenda for the ICAO assembly last month.
Towards Joint Safety Oversight In SADC
ICAO facilities international aviation regulatory harmonization through a program dubbed "Cooperative Operational Safety and continuing Airworthiness Program"(COSCAP).Each COSCAP concentrates on a group of African States. With four COSCAP projects underway in Africa, Botswana is the host country for the COSCAP project affecting the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) States and this project is funded by SADC.
Common goals of the COSCAPs are to harmonize regulations & procedures between the participating states,15 in the case of SADC.COSCAP aims to harmonize best practices for Air Operator Certification & Inspection (surveillance).The ultimate goal is to establish a(semi-) permanent regional safety organization, mandated to carry out some or all of the certification and surveillance functions on behalf of the SADC States. The regional organization could also function as a training resource center.
COSCAP-SADC has developed an electronic database to track implementation of the comprehensive training plan for SADC state and regional inspectors. A Flight Safety Working Group (FSWG) has been established. It is composed of ICAO technical experts, regional technical and legal specialists from the SADC States and technical partners donated by the Federal AVIATION Administration for the purpose of facilitating regulatory and procedural harmonization. A key achievement of COSCAP SADC has been the development of a Model Civil Aviation Act and generic regulations, approved by the project steering committee.
These approved generic regulations are intended to be incorporated into each states own regulatory safety system. They will serve as the instrument for regulatory harmonization in the SADC states. Upon adoption, the SADC states civil aviation regulations conform to Annexes 1,6 and 8.
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