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Described by some attendees as ¿a real United Nations,¿ the International Safety Management Systems Symposium attracted 120 aviation leaders from six continents to its July 19th ¿ 21st meetings at the Tysons Corner, Virginia Ritz Carlton.

Hosted by the MITRE Aviation Institute and organized by its Director, Chen-Chung Hsin, the symposium was designed not only to promote international collaboration on Safety Management Systems (SMS), but to serve as a forum for executives who are responsible for the implementation, operation or oversight of aviation safety management systems.

The symposium was organized in response to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)¿s adoption of new safety standards and procedures, which will soon be required at airports, airlines and air traffic control systems throughout the world. A unique event, it presented these requirements in an integrated manner, covering all domains: airports, airlines, aviation oversight authorities and air traffic services.

 FAA Administrator Blakey and Speakers from Around the Globe

Thirteen speakers addressed the conference on its opening day, including FAA Administrator Marion. Blakey, who referred to the participants as the people in leadership positions who can really spread the message of safety management systems around the globe. For a complete list of speakers, please go to http://www.mitrecaasd.org/safety/agenda.html.

Among those who spoke was Bill Voss, Director of the Air Navigation Bureau of ICAO, who said ¿we need to find safety management systems that anybody anywhere in the world has the time and money to implement, plus a network of enforcement based on global standards.¿

Stuart Matthews, CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, spoke about specific procedures. Noting that about half of all accidents occur on approach and landing, he called for changes in this sector. But he cautioned against ignoring the financial aspects of safety initiatives, remarking that the less expensive ones are the most likely to be implemented.

A Comprehensive Introduction to All Aspects of SMS

Commenting on the meeting¿s agenda, FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nick Sabatini said ¿We cannot afford to wait for accidents to happen; we need to prevent them by finding their precursors. The next frontier is developing a technology for extracting meaningful data that can be used to do that.¿

Throughout the symposium, speakers and guests alike emphasized several points:

• Information must be shared among domains and countries
• A systems approach is the best way to do this
• To encourage the reporting of problems, penalties should not be too punitive
• Safety systems should be proactive, using a data driven plan to predict possible accidents

Practical ¿How To¿ and Instructive Role Playing

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the participants attended classes that covered implementation of all aspects of SMS, from creating organizational structures to making human factors modifications. Broken into four tracks, the classes focused on:

• Airlines and General Aviation
• Air Traffic Services
• Airports/Aerodromes
• CAA¿s Safety Oversight organization.

The classes offered practical advice for participants who praised the professional depth of the presenters and appreciated the interaction with experts from different countries and areas of aviation. At the end of the conference, participants from all tracks got together for role playing, with the goal of reanalyzing problems from an integrated systems point of view.