Building a Viable Flight Risk Assessment Process in Business Jet Operations: Selecting a Risk Assessment Tool, Setting Baselines, Trigger & Mitigation Points

In November 2006, The International Civil Aeronautics Organization (ICAO) issued a mandate for all member nations to set a state standard for all aviation service companies to have integrated safety management systems (SMS) in place by 2009. The FAA issued an advisory circular (AC120-92A) in 2010 addressing this issue. To date SMS has not been mandated in the United States. A major part of any SMS is creating a process for assessing risk. This paper is a case study of how one jet charter company selected a flight risk assessment tool (FRAT), trained their pilots and then analyzed close to 800 flights in order to set trigger points for assessment use, risk values that required management involvement, and risk values that required some sort of mitigation. The paper also discusses how the operation dealt with pilot push back, FRAT evolution and the dynamic personality of aviation in general.