SMS Brazil 2021: Airline industry highlights the importance of safety culture to prevent accidents

Safety culture in the aviation sector as a mechanism to prevent aviation accidents was present in the main debates of the second and last day of the Safety Management Summit (SMS) Brazil 2021. The implementation of safety management systems (SMS), pilot training and the impact of irregular operations on aviation safety were also highlighted themes. SMS Brazil – an event about safety – is in its 6th edition and was held by the National Aviation Agency (ANAC), in São Paulo, on December 7th and 8th. Check the coverage of the first day of the event (click on the link to acess).

Starting the cycle of lectures and exchange of experiences about safety, Rafael Borges, from ANAC, highlighted the Agency’s learning with the industry about safety culture. Borges disclosed the work focused on the improvement of the SGSO implementation in service providers and the improvement of the PSOE-ANAC implementation.

During the lecture “Contributions of science to safety management: context and perspectives”, professor Eder Henriqson, from PUC-RS, contextualized the historical industrial process and the institutionalization of accident prevention. The professor also highlighted the importance of risk management skills and process control to avoid errors.

“Safety management is always a priority!” And this is how the representative of Boeing, Dan Freeman, began to share the experience about the implementation of the safety management system (SMS) at the aircraft manufacturer. System implemented, in 2015, and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FFA), in 2020. “A long way to go,” Freeman concluded. 

About pilot training in aviation, Marcus Vinícius Ramos, from ANAC, addressed the Agency’s expectations for the training of professionals who will operate in electric aircraft. The Agency’s expectation is to get into the loop early, so that by the time the product is launched, training programs are being worked on. “The challenge on the regulator's side is to have a more flexible regulatory environment and to be inserted in the campaign to define the competencies of the person responsible for operating these aircraft,” said Ramos.

In the afternoon, Latam’s experiences with in-flight operations were presented. Marcelo Marcusso, responsible for the company’s safety sector, highlighted the importance of analyzing data from normal operations to mitigate eventual operations with occurrences and to issue recommendations.

Returning to experiences on the implementation and operation of HSE, Felipe Fernandez, engineering supervisor at Embraer, reported the position of relevance that safety and risk management have in the company. “We should not be afraid to report occurrences. Embraer receives about 1,000 reports per month,” he emphasized.

Edvaldo Rodrigues, from the Agency, closed the cycle of lectures by presenting examples of irregular cases in aviation to highlight that the set of infractions committed by these professionals and operators intentionally compromise flight safety.

During the closing of the event, ANAC director Rogério Benevides emphasized the importance of the event’s theme for aviation. “The safety culture is intrinsic in our industry. Aviation did not stop, even during the pandemic, and we were able to make necessary deliveries to the industry and society, especially maintaining an essential airline network that helped in the fight against Covid-19,” he said. Benevides also highlighted the advances in discussions about electric vehicles (Evtol) and new technologies for the sector.

ANAC Communications Office