The National Transport. Safety Board (NTSB) plays a vital role in advancing transportation safety by investigating accidents, determining their causes, issuing safety recommendations, and conducting safety studies. To support its mission, NTSB¿s training center provides training to NTSB investigators and others. In 2006, recommendations were made to NTSB in many areas. In 2007, an independent auditor made info. security recommendations This testimony addresses NTSB¿s progress in following leading practices in selected management areas, increasing the efficiency of aspects of investigating accidents and conducting safety studies, increasing the utilization of its training center, and improving information security. Charts and tables.
AVIATION SAFETY: A BALANCED INDUSTRY APPROACH, first edition provides an innovative approach to the presentation of contemporary aviation safety detailing a number of pertinent subject matter areas. This book is designed to enhance the pedagogy of aviation safety by presenting topics and information that are derived from and directly applicable to various aspects of the aviation industry. Featuring issues on contemporary aviation safety, flight safety programs, regulatory organizations, ground operations safety, gap analysis, ethics, and safety management systems, the book provides a theoretical background to safety issues, all while making a significant connection to how the information can be directly applied to the aviation industry. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.
This book focuses on ways to better manage and prevent aircraft-based homicide events while in flight using alternate technology to replace the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and/or Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) functions. While these events are infrequent, the implementation of real-time predictive maintenance allows aircraft operators to better manage both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance events. Aviation Safety and Security: Utilizing Technology to Prevent Aircraft Fatality explores historical events of in-flight homicide and includes relevant accident case study excerpts from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). FEATURES Explores historical events of in-flight homicide and offers solutions for ways to mitigate risk Explains how alternate technologies can be implemented to address in-flight safety issues Demonstrates that metrics for change are not solely for safety but also for financial savings for aircraft operation Includes relevant accident case study excerpts from the NTSB and AAIB Expresses the need for real-time predictive maintenance Stephen J Wright is an academic Professor at the faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Tampere University, Finland, specializing in aviation, aeronautical engineering, and aircraft systems.
The NTSB plays a vital role in advancing transportation safety by investigating accidents, determining their causes, issuing safety recommendations, and conducting safety studies. NTSB's Training Center provides training to NTSB investigators and others. From 2006 through 2008, there were 21 recommendations to NTSB that address mgmt., IT, accident investigation criteria, safety studies, and Training Center use. This testimony addresses NTSB's progress in implementing recommendations that it: (1) follow leading mgmt. practices; (2) conduct aspects of its accident investigations and safety studies more efficiently; and (3) increase the use of its Training Center. Illustrations.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) plays a vital role in advancing transportation safety by investigating accidents, determining their causes, and issuing safety recommendations. To support its mission, NTSB's training center, which opened in 2003, provides training to NTSB investigators and others. It is important that NTSB use its resources efficiently to carry out its mission. GAO was asked to examine the extent to which NTSB follows leading management practices, how NTSB carries out its transportation safety function, and the extent to which NTSB's training center is cost-effective, including potential options for improving the center's cost-effectiveness. GAO reviewed NTSB documents and data concerning management practices and accident investigations, interviewed relevant NTSB and other federal officials, and evaluated NTSB's management practices based on leading practices identified in prior work. While NTSB has recently made progress in following leading management practices, its overall use of leading management practices in the seven areas GAO examined was either minimal or partial. NTSB minimally follows leading practices in strategic planning, information technology, and knowledge management. NTSB partially follows leading practices in human capital management, communications, acquisition management, and financial accountability and control. For example, regarding human capital management, NTSB developed a detailed staffing plan. However, the agency lacks a strategic training plan and a diversity management strategy, which are important for ensuring that an organization has strategies for achieving the appropriate mix of skills to achieve its mission. In addition, while NTSB follows some leading practices for financial management, it is noncompliant with the Anti-Deficiency Act because it did not obtain budget authority for the net present value of the entire 20-year lease for its training center lease obligation at the time the lease agreement was signed in 2001. NTSB carries out its transportation safety function by selecting which accidents to investigate, investigating accidents and issuing recommendations, and taking proactive steps outside of specific accidents. For some transportation modes, NTSB has risk-based criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate, while for others it does not. Such criteria are important to ensure NTSB is using its resources to achieve a maximum safety benefit, particularly because, by statute, NTSB must allocate a large proportion of its resources to investigating aviation accidents, which may reduce the number of staff that NTSB can use to investigate accidents in other modes that may have critical safety implications. To its credit, although accident investigations are sometimes lengthy, NTSB issues urgent recommendations during the course of an investigation. In addition, NTSB proactively carries out its mission by conducting safety studies to consider issues that may be relevant to more than one accident. Safety studies, which sometimes result in recommendations, may also reduce the likelihood of recurrence of transportation accidents. Over the last 6 years, NTSB has conducted four safety studies. Industry stakeholders stated they would like NTSB to conduct more safety studies. NTSB's training center is not cost-effective, as the combination of the training center's revenues and external training costs avoided by NTSB staff's use of the facility do not cover the center's costs. In fiscal year 2005, costs exceeded revenues by $3.9 million. Furthermore, the training center has had a limited impact on avoiding external training costs, as the majority of NTSB staff training occurs externally. Potential strategies to increase revenues or decrease costs could increase the cost-effectiveness of the training center; however, vacating the space may be the least-cost strategy.
