Fleet Census - Orient Aviation

SPECIAL REPORT
Safety
China launches new safety initiative
A
programme that will lead to a safety measurement system being rolled out
across China with the help of the International Air Transport Association
(IATA) and Transport Canada starts in April. The two organisations were
contracted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to supply
personnel and materials.
The initiative is the result of an agreement signed by IATA director general, Giovanni
Bisignani, and CAAC director general, Yang Yuanyuan, last August, that signalled cooperation
in a number of areas vital to China’s fast-expanding aviation industry, including the
management of safety data.
“We are trying to help them establish best practices and a safety measurement system
that we have developed into airlines in China,” said Günther Matschnigg, IATA senior
vice-president for safety, operations and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, China’s new Civil Aviation Safety Institute is nearing the end of its first year of
operations during which it began providing specialist education for those involved across the
board in flight safety, as well as commercial airline personnel with the same responsibilities.
The Beijing-based body, which aims to expand to 400 staff and 8,000 students by 2010, is
also working on strengthening the country’s safety management system through departments
specialising in operational standards, airport safety, air traffic safety, aircraft airworthiness
certification, accident investigation and safety information and theory.
Japan Airlines (JAL) is among its collaborators. Maintenance and flight operations
personnel from China’s top four airlines joined officials and air traffic managers who visited
Tokyo to take part in discussions and tour component and maintenance facilities, as well as
JAL’s safety promotion centre. Similar events are planned several times a year.
JAL takes
right line
Japan Airlines (JAL) flight crew will
have their every move monitored on
more than 400 domestic and international
flights starting this month
under the largest Line Operation
Safety Audit (LOSA) ever performed for a
single airline.
The programme, developed by the
University of Texas with the help of the
Federal Aviation Administration, uses
regular monitoring of flight operations to
unearth the factors underpinning human
errors that can affect flight safety and reduce
operational quality.
Personnel from TLC, a company
approved by the LOSA programme, will be
on board to observe flight crew performance
for three months to see where they may be
going wrong. JAL will then implement corrective
action, which will also be monitored.
All crew involved have received LOSA
training.
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38 ORIENT AVIATION APRIL 2007
3/2/07 3:20:09 PM