Opening of SMS Brazil 2021 is marked by the strengthening of safety as a priority in Brazilian civil aviation

Air safety as a priority in Brazilian civil aviation. This was the tone of the speeches that marked the opening ceremony of the Safety Management Summit – SMS Brazil 2021, event held by the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), in São Paulo, on December 7 and 8.

The Director-President of ANAC, Juliano Noman, reinforced that the culture of safety as a priority in Brazilian civil aviation has been consolidating over decades. “Safety in the aviation industry is the essence of all the work we do. This work is done in conjunction with DECEA, with Cenipa and with everyone who works hard every day so that aviation always reaches the highest levels of operational safety in the country and in the world,” said the Director-President.

Still at the opening, Noman pointed out the lessons learned in one of the biggest crises that aviation has been going through in facing the pandemic caused by Covid-19. “We looked with great concern at the financial health of the airline industry, one of the most impacted by the pandemic, but we never relativized safety. We did everything possible to ensure that the industry came through the crisis even better than it went in. It is because of this safety culture that has been worked on over all these years that aviation managed to overcome this crisis with resilience and in a natural way, a daily exercise for those who live aviation. We changed the way we regulate, seeking to be even more efficient and improving the regulatory environment for all agents in the sector,” said Noman.

The opening ceremony was also attended by the head of the Operations sub-department of the Airspace Control Department (Decea), Air Brigadier Eduardo Miguel Soares; and the head of the Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa), Air Brigadier Marcelo Moreno.

Lecture cycle

Starting ANAC’s participation in the first day's panels, Civil Aviation Regulation expert Marcos Pereira highlighted the factors that influence the crew’s psychological conditions and what can be observed to avoid adverse reactions when performing their work. During the lecture “Mental health of crew members in the pandemic period and the possible impacts on safety”, Pereira detailed that stress is one of the main factors related to the pandemic that affects the work of aviation professionals. The observation and mitigation of other conditions that stress can trigger is essential to the culture of civil aviation safety, concluded Pereira.

Continuing the prevention culture, Major Camila Bolzan, from Decea, explained how the air traffic investigations structure works and the importance of prevention work during the lecture “Air traffic occurrences processing at Decea”. Also during the morning, Aircraft Major Sérgio Malecka presented the functionalities of the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).

In the afternoon, the impacts of the airport environment on the safety of operations was the main theme of the lectures presented. Fauna, meteorology and traffic and airport infrastructure issues were the subjects debated by airlines, researchers and industry experts. Cases from the airports of Brasília and Congonhas were cited to exemplify the importance of the integrated system in the prevention of air accidents. Besides this theme, the prevention of accidents involving unmanned aircraft also aroused debate on the subject. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Amancio, from Cenipa – the agency responsible for the investigation of aeronautical accidents – pointed out that the scope of the investigation of this type of aircraft includes technical, operational and human analysis, and the choice of cases to be investigated involves the impact of the aircraft operation to the society.

InovAnac 2021 Award

During the event, the winners of the third edition of the InovANAC award – an initiative to stimulate the culture of innovation in civil aviation, which aims to reward innovative ideas and practices in the promotion of operational safety, as well as recognize citizens who act creatively and proactively seeking the development of civil aviation in the country. See the winners: https://www.gov.br/anac/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/inovanac/security/inovanac2021/vencedores (available in Portuguese only).

ANAC Communications Office