Huerta: 'No Silver Bullet When It Comes To Making GA Safer'

Overall, the FAA is pleased with where general aviation safety is headed. The agency said at its fifth annual General Aviation Summit held in Washington, D.C. this week that while the numbers aren’t final, it looks like 2017 will end up being the safest year yet. Working together with industry to meaningfully address safety is making a difference and the FAA says it is going to continue its collaboration to make GA even safer.

It’s an issue that needs to be approached from many angles – some regulatory, some technological, some educational. And that’s the driving force behind the fifth annual General Aviation Safety Summit, held with government and industry partners Tuesday.

FAA administrator Michael Huerta said in a statement following the summit that the FAA said it has made substantial progress since last year’s gathering. The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) continues to implement targeted safety enhancements.  The Part 23 rule that will help decrease the time to get safety-enhancing technologies for small airplanes to the marketplace has been finalized. The Fly Safe educational campaign has reached millions of social media followers with information on how to avoid loss of control accidents, and in collaboration with aviation training community experts, last summer the agency updated key elements of the airman certification system to include an enhanced focus on risk management.

"There’s no silver bullet when it comes to making GA safer. We have to remain vigilant and keep finding new ways to advance our shared safety mission," Huerta said. "The GA community has been willing to roll up their sleeves and ask, “How can we fix this – together?” With that kind of attitude, I know we can tackle anything that comes our way – and get ever closer to the day when general aviation fatalities are a thing of the past."

(Source: FAA news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.faa.gov