Flight Test Safety Committee

The Flight Test Safety Committee (FTSC) was formed jointly in November 1994 by members of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), the Society of Flight Test Engineers (SFTE) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). These and numerous additional organizations presently comprise the FTSC. The purpose of the FTSC is to initiate and sustain a flight test related safety organization intended to promote flight safety, reduce the risk of mishap, promote risk reduction management and continually improve the profession's communication and coordination.
About FTSC

2020 European Flight Test Safety Workshop

2020 European Flight Test Safety Workshop

London UK: 13 - 16 October 2020

 

Theme: “Improving flight test safety through enhanced safety risk management.” 

Venue

Royal Aeronautical Society, London (4 Hamilton Place, W1J 7BQ)

Event website is https://www.aerosociety.com/events-calendar/flight-test-conference-2020/

 

Delivered by the Flight Test Safety Committee http://flighttestsafety.org/ which comprises:

The Society of Experimental Test Pilots, SETP
The Society of Flight Test Engineers, SFTE 
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, AIAA

 

Outline

Tuesday 13               Evening Arrival Reception - RAeS

Wednesday 14          Workshop Tutorial and Group Exercise

Thursday 15              Workshop Technical Presentations               

Thursday 15              Evening Dinner - Royal Air Force Club

Friday 16                   Technical Tour - The Shuttleworth Collection

                                 Partners Cultural Tour - To Be Announced

 

Event registrations to be opened shortly.

Accommodation information will be available shortly.


Call for presentations:

The Workshop tutorial will explore effective safety risk management (SRM) to include contemporary definitions and available references that may or may not be familiar to test teams.  Led by industry experts, the interactive session will challenge attendees on various scenarios and how effective SRM methods can lead to significant reductions in overall residual risk.  A Group Exercise will reinforce understanding and provide opportunity to refine competence in identifying test hazards, the causes for those hazards, and mitigations to ultimately reduce risk to as low as reasonably practicable.  Practicing effective SRM will offer a tangible benefit for attendees in conducting test hazard analyses (THA) back at their host organizations.  Moreover, some of the THAs developed during the tutorial may be hosted on the Flight Test Safety Database (FTSD) as a resource for the flight test community.  

To complement the theme, we’d like to hear from test teams on their SRM process and if it had the safety effect they anticipated.  Perhaps there was SRM opportunity missed, an unintended consequence of a mitigation, or a risk realized that was/was not sufficiently addressed by an emergency procedure.  Tragically, there have been several recent flight test mishaps that suggest the need for greater SRM emphasis.  We hope to infuse a renewed and intensive focus on SRM as an effective means to reduce test risk and execute with precision and safety!

Individuals, test teams, and companies are invited to submit proposals for potential presentations to the Workshop with a target duration of 20 minutes, and a subsequent opportunity for questions and answers.  The European Flight Test Safety Award will be awarded at the Dinner in the RAF Club for the presentation judged to have contributed most to improving flight test safety. 

Presentation proposals should be sent (and for any questions about presenting) to the 2020 European Flight Test Safety Workshop Technical Chairman, Dave Best, via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

The deadline for submission of proposals is 31 July 2020, to allow time for appropriate consideration, selection, and inclusion in the programme.  Please note that European Workshop presentations do not need to be accompanied by any written supporting technical paper. 

FTSW Euro 2020 Flyer 
 
 
 

Flight Test Safety Fact 20-05

Have you subscribed to the podcast yet? Most of us can walk a mile in 15 minutes.  If you are cooped up at home doing telework, you probably need to anyway, so why not listen to the podcast while you do.  Please subscribe to the new Flight Test Safety Podcast on the Apple or Google podcast app.  You can also navigate directly to the recording in a web browser.  Last, but not least, tell a friend.  Help us Reach Everyone.

Inside this month's issue, the Flight Test Safety Committee cordially invites you to attend the free vFTSW (virtual Flight Test Safety Workshop) and shares the lineup of speakers and topics.  It includes a link to the registration for the workshop. 

Tom Huff also shares resources at the intersection of the novel coronavirus and aviation, explaining where you can find them on our website.  Then he pulls tight on the "bowline of SMS," an analogy from his days as the skipper, but a poignant one reminding us to keep the ball moving downfield in our SMS efforts.

Before you know it, AI will be part of our safety critical systems, and that's what we share in the last column.  There you'll find a brief introduction to a speaker from a recent Symposium:  Megan Burk discussed the necessity to formally and rigorously prepare test and evaluation professionals for aerospace autonomous systems.  She has agreed to allow us to share the video of her talk, and you will find a link to the audio and video herein.

As always, share this newsletter (virtually, so you can maintain the appropriate physical distance) and send questions, comments, or ideas.

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.

PS For added security and convenience, you can download the pdf and access the video or audio here.

Flight Test Safety Fact 20-04

I truly hope this newsletter finds you well.  Everyone feels the effects of the crisis that has gripped the world, and as you probably know, the FTSC has postponed the Workshop in Denver until 2021.  You can find out more details inside, in the Chairman's Corner, and it includes his request for your input:  Do you want a remote Workshop? Are you listening to the podcast? What topics do you want to read or hear more about?

Since it's likely you have some extra time on your hands, I've included a more lengthy discussion on a topic that is woven into the fabric of almost everything in this modern age: Big Data.  We collect more data. Our computers can process more data. There is more data.  So what?  That's the question we try to answer inside. 

As always, you can contact me directly by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Sincerely,
Mark Jones Jr.

 

For added convenience and security, please download the pdf here.