— as National Aviation Safety Conference opens

THE National Aviation Safety Conference opened on Thursday at the Pegasus Hotel, Kingston, Georgetown amid calls for stakeholders to work towards building and embracing strong safety standards while learning from mistakes of the past.

Themed, “Safety–the Pillar of Sustainability”, Director-General, Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Egbert Field stressed that the conference will allow for stakeholders to examine thoroughly innovative ways to manage risks within the sector.
The GCAA’s focus is ensuring that the industry has the competence and capacity to manage their own safety. It is not the job of the GCAA to do it for them, said Field who noted that it takes time to develop the kind of attitude and approach to safety and risk management.
He said the two-day conference provides the opportunity for local aviation experts to hear from highly qualified international and local experts about the latest developments in safety systems and human factors.

“Forums like this are valuable for sharing this type of information but in my experience, I have found that safety management is an exercise in which the right attitude and behaviour is crucial to sustainable safety performance.”
Field noted that safety is not just about following the regulations and having the right manuals or having a safety officer in the organisation, or ticking the books. The GCAA director-general made it clear that while regulation is an important part of the safety equation “it is not the big picture”.

He explained that the Authority is striving to play a greater leadership role in exposing operators and all stakeholders to the right safety behaviour and attitude.
“When conducting surveillance, we don’t always pick up all the safety risks and any auditor would be able to tell you that we don’t have all the right safety data and we struggle at times to recruit and maintain the right kind of individual to do those jobs.”
He noted too that “an operator will always be better placed than the regulator to know and understand the safety risks they face in their particular circumstances”.
Field stressed that it is not the GCAA’s role to fly or train pilots despite this view being shared by some. He said the GCAA has to remain independent in its tasks to be able to move from encouragement to enforcement as the need arises.

FAR FROM THE TRUTH
He pointed to a myth which states that as long as the operator meets the regulator’s requirements then they are safe. “No, this is far from the truth. The regulations can only seek to cover what we believe are the minimum, necessary requirements and they can never hope to cover all situations and circumstances.”

Field said the GCAA looks to operators to demonstrate that they have gone beyond the regulations as well as to do risk management and analysis of their own organisations so as to demonstrate more innovative ways to manage their risks.
“We as regulators must work with operators, instilling (in) the operator the element of safety in the work they have to do themselves. If an operator relies only on the regulator to identify safety practices in their system, then they are sticking their heads in the sand. GCAA’s surveillance and safety programmes should be complementary to what an operator does,” emphasised Field.

And while the GCAA is actively looking to safety management systems here, the director-general said much more needs to be done and will be done to foster and support the risk management across the varying sects of aviation.
He posited that the Authority is not only a regulator but also a facilitator.
“We help the industry to grow in a safe and orderly manner while supporting and advising them.” He disputed assertions that the GCAA has a purely punitive approach following an aircraft accident, rather than a safety benefit approach where lessons are learned to prevent recurrence.

“I just want to make it clear, accidents when investigated by the Authority is not for punitive or to castigate or condemn the operator or the pilot. We look at it as trying to find the cause of the accident and in finding the cause, we can prevent future accidents… not to say if there are willful mistakes or if willfully done by the operator or pilot we will not take action,” Field explained.
He alluded to the fact that the aviation sector is on the rise and pointed to the booming oil and gas sector here which is to be fully operational by 2020, while stressing that Guyana cannot grow without the aviation sector which plays a critical role in the development of the economy.
The influx of helicopters here as a result of the oil production must be catered for, said Field who noted that several challenges await the GCAA.

PATCH THE CRACKS
“Aviation is not complexly without danger and we have to look for all those cracks where elements of safety doesn’t exist and try to patch those cracks. The GCAA is working steadfastly in dealing with those safety issues. Nothing is utopian, nothing is 100 per cent but we are working steadfastly,” he told the gathering of aviation experts and officials.
Thus far, the GCAA has invested over $300M in the development of ADS-B system (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) which allows air traffic controllers to track aircraft.

Additionally, the GCAA head alluded to the progress being made in the sector, noting that Guyana has received the ICAO President’s Council certificate for improvement in its compliance with the ICAO standards. Guyana has moved from 44 per cent to 64.4 per cent.
“I am sure if ICAO comes now to do an audit, we should be somewhere in the 70 per cent compliance,” he said, stressing that the Authority is working with stakeholders to address safety issues.
“… Please remember it will take time. We cannot do it all in one bit and we have to be cautious because there is no room for error.
Similarly, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, who is Acting President, told the gathering of aviation officials and participants that the conference is timely, given the recent death of two pilots within the past few months.

SAFETY IMPERATIVE
“For the aviation industry to be viable and profitable, it must provide safety on the ground as well as in the air. Safety is not just a government concern; safety is a business of the aviation sector. It is central to the aviation system,” said the prime minister.
He, like Field, noted that the country’s aviation sector is on the rise and the number of flights internally is testimony of the growth of the sector. He said over the years, Government and its partners have invested over $50B to the aviation sector with the aim of modernising it.

But despite all the positives occurring in the sector, the prime minister made it clear that much more needs to be done as regards safety. He said too that the APNU+AFC administration is concerned about the spike in accidents within the industry.
The government is also worried about search and rescue operations which he said often turns into search and recover.
“We need to take a keen look at that because our precious resources—pilots, are first in line. These events only reinforce the need for diligence and safety and security in the aviation sector,” said Prime Minister Nagamootoo.
He alluded to the Civil Aviation Bill 2017 which was sent to a special Select Committee for fine-tuning earlier this year. The new bill seeks to repeal and replace the Civil Aviation Act Chapter 53:01 and bring Guyana’s aviation law into conformity with primary legislation regulating civil aviation currently found in other parts of the world.
The bill also makes provisions for the enablement of the Chicago Convention and the agreement establishing the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System.
The prime minister noted the potential which exists within the aviation sector and called for meaningful cooperation.

Similarly, Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, said safety is a critical area of focus for the administration and noted that it is necessary to facilitate the economic and social affairs of the country.
She too pointed to the improvements relative to the ICAO standards and dubbed last year as one of the most significant in the country’s history as it relates to compliance.
“As the sector grows and evolves, the safety challenges would be increased and we as a nation must be prepared but at the same time, develop safety management systems to ensure that we eliminate the safety threats and risks within each system,” stated Ferguson.
The minister with responsibility for the aviation sector challenged stakeholders to work in unison towards building and embracing a strong safety culture, while maintaining the high standard of best practices. Her sentiments were echoed by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.

The Aviation Safety Conference concludes today with discussions on the effect of safety culture on controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) risk, which will be presented by Captain Jonathan Fitt (Safety Manager, LIAT Ltd.1974); loss of control in flight, by Beverley Drake, Programme Manager, Office of Government and Industry Affairs, National Transport Safety Board (NTSB), USA; the importance of SMS in aircraft operations, by Ray Adams, Director of Quality and Safety and Ryan Borne, Regional Sales Manager (Bristow US LLC.).
There will also be a panel discussion on safety in single engine operation before the Conference is closed. Ministers of Business, Citizenship and Public Security, Dominic Gaskin, Winston Felix and Khemraj Ramjattan, respectively, also attended the conference.
Photos saved as: conference, Conference 1, Moses Nagamootoo, Annette Ferguson, Egbert Field