Flight Instructor Training Module Regarding SAFETY

Capt . Dimitrios Sipsas as an EASA Examiner (T.R.E) , wrote on February 2025 ,an article on

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Introduction

Safety is one of the most fundamental considerations in flight training. Every flight instructor can agree that safety is paramount, and everyone wants to be safe. But what does “safety” really mean? How can a flight instructor not only ensure the safety of flight training activities, but also train clients to operate their aircraft safely after they leave the relatively protected flight training environment?

According to one definition, safety is the freedom from those conditions that can cause death, injury, or illness; damage to/loss of equipment or property, or damage to the environment. Regulations are interided to promote safety by eliminating or mitigating conditions that can cause death, injury, or damage. These regulations are comprehensive, but there has been increasing recognition that even the strictest compliance with regulations may not be sufficient to guarantee safety. Rules and regulations are designed to address known or suspected conditions detrimental to safety, but in any system defined as the combination of people, procedures, equipment, facilities, software, tools, materials that operate in a specific environment to perform a specific task or achieve a specific purpose there is a high probability that some new combination of circumstances not contemplated by the regulations will arise.

Objective

The recognition of aviation training and flight operations as a system leads to a “system approach” to aviation safety. Since flight instructors are a critical part of the aviation safety system, this module seeks to:

  • Introduce the basic concepts of system safety, including risk management; and
  • Help flight instructors teach flight training clients to use practical risk management tools in their own flying activities.

System Safety

As noted above, a system is the combination of people, procedures, equipment, facilities, software, tools, materials that operate in a specific environment to perform a specific task or achieve a specific purpose. Flight training and flight operations clearly constitute complex systerns with many variables. Pilots have different levels of knowledge, skill, experience, ability, and discipline. Procedures (e.g., instrument approaches) can be very complex. Equipment both airframes and avionics is changing rapidly. Facilities (e.g., airports and airspace) vary widely. The flight environment, which includes weather, is also a critical factor in the safety of every flight.

Regulations are intended to address safety considerations and conditions in these areas, and they provide a vital foundation for aviation safety. The problem is that while the regulations offer comprehensive treatment of individual issues, they are simply not designed to cover the nearly infinite number of possible hazards and combinations of hazards that can undermine safety. In this respect, the regulations alone are like bricks without mortar.

The system safety approach provides the mortar needed to bind the individual bricks together and prevent accidents. System safety is the “application of special technical and managerial skills in a systematic, forward-looking manner to identify and control hazards throughout the life cycle of a project, program, or activity.” Put another way, system safety is a “compliance-plus” approach that builds on existing regulations and procedures to create a stronger safety structure. To the extent that activities associated with this approach become ingrained as individual and corporate habits, they help create a “safety culture” mentality in which shared values and beliefs about safety become part of an organization’s structures and control systems – “how we do business here.” An effective safety culture includes a commitment to safety, shared perceptions about safety, and good communication.

Risk Management

Concepts, Definitions, and Principles

A key part of the system safety approach one that should be practiced by every pilot before every flight is risk management (RM). RM is a decision-making process designed to systematically identify hazards, assess the degree of risk, and determine the best course of action. A few key definitions are in order before we continue:

  • A hazard is a present condition, event, object, or circumstance that could lead to or contribute to an unplanned or undesired event. For example, a ΒΌ” nick in the propeller represents a hazard.
  • Risk is the future impact of a hazard that is not controlled or eliminated.