The big commercial manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus have spent so much time & money over the years to make airliners the safest way to travel by far. There has been so much success with automation and safety advancements over recent years that the primary losses we’re talking about are airliners being shot down, suicidal pilots or passenger planes going missing somewhere in the Indian Ocean. In 2017 there were no commercial aircraft accidents at all.

A resounding No! What this means is that Crew Resource Management and the Non Technical Skills that derive from the Human Factors that we deal with every single day are being understood by commercial operators. Understanding ourselves, our limitations, each other & how to operate as effective crews & teams is the lynchpin that keeps this industry one of the safest in the world.

CrewFusion Aviation exists to provide the continued reminders that the job we do in & around awesome aircraft every day is so critical that some days it only takes one small event to lead to catastrophe. Every single thing you girls & guys do on & around that aircraft matters. So make it count!!! Here’s hoping that you get to see this post on your device and your brain goes… Awesome, I’m inspired now!!!

Oh and please don’t forget that the excellent safety statistic mentioned, only regards Commercial Aviation. The General Aviation sector needs to be recognised here, because statistics surrounding it are not so good. We lose good crews every day. Maintenance & operational errors are common with some companies not having solid Safety Management Systems complete with blame free cultures aimed at conserving integrity and learning lessons from errors, incidents and crashes.

The Human Factors training is so much more important here, where the bottom line of operating an aircraft is tight, but the job still needs to be done with safety in mind. How do we bring the smaller operators in General Aviation up to the same safety model that the airlines are winning at?

Solid training regimes, well documented procedures and all that are of course essential but I’m hanging out for the other answer.

Knowledge, experience and mutual respect is a good place to start. A good operator has loads of knowledge, plenty of experience and is willing to share all of it to improve those around them. The old adage of “Knowledge is power” is so 20th century, so if you’re still rocking that attitude, Quit it now!

Millennial’s have every piece of written information available to man in their back pocket, but it doesn’t mean shit without context. It’s the real experiences gleaned from those who have been there, seen and tasted it, that will get a young apprentice, a pilot trainee or the kid on work experience to start thinking with a smart, effective and efficient mindset.

Respect yourselves, respect your team, respect your aircraft, respect the weather. Know your limits. Walk right up to them every day and push a little, then push a little harder and learn a little more. Surround yourself with positive operators that really know their stuff and will happily allow you to be the best at what you do but never let you stop learning.

Have a safe day with your Crew!!!