Safety is never an issue – until there is an “issue”

This element of business has been imprinted in my life from early years.  At my elementary school, teachers would parade the class through the “Crime-mobile”.  My fellow students and I  saw car accidents, gunshot wounds, amputations and overall some considerably macabre images.  Of course, all of this left a lasting impression. From that time forward I have been intrigued to learn how these “bad” things continue to occur and ideally how they can be prevented.

It is obvious that the “human factor” plays a significant role in each of our daily lives.  As an aviation safety professional, my efforts for a long time have been dedicated to providing current and relevant safety information to all that I could.  By doing this, I hoped to  enhance air crews’  ability to complete flights or missions; be it shooting an approach to minimums, trimming a fuel control unit or tugging an aircraft.   Trust me, all who operate aircraft are very important… and the key to aviation industry SAFETY.

This is the first of many blogs that you’ll see as we continue to build a relationship and thank you for keeping up with aviation attorney and safety advocate Jim Crouse and this safety blog.  The purpose of the blog is to communicate information to help you make informed decisions as you perform your role in aviation.  Each one of you plays a vital part in making our system safer, more productive and help all operations achieve their respective goals.  Blogs will be written in a light-hearted spirit with very serious undertones.  Our industry could be considered dangerous by some.  As professionals, it is our collective and personal responsibility to take each opportunity to learn what we can to further our careers and insuring our overall success.  Please post these blogs anywhere you feel appropriate to get someone’s attention.

Stay Tuned!

Editors Note:  Here we begin a series of safety messages from safety expert Ben Coleman.  Ben has a distinguished background in aviation safety.  He was manager of field investigations for Piper Aircraft for six years, an Air Safety Investigator with the FAA for twelve years, an IIC with the NTSB for five years, and has investigated over 500 aircraft accidents.  In addition, he is a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators, a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Accident Investigation Course, and has even served our country in Iraq as a safety advisor to the U.S. State Department aircraft operations.  We are delighted that he has consented to contribute to our blog.