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

LT Mark Hargrove, USN and Barbara Gordon Award Citation

LT Mark Hargrove, USN and Barbara Gordon Award Citation

BronzeLeVier_Gentex

 

USNTPS flight test education is a multi-faceted effort and the ASO and SO serve a critical and enduring role in that total-immersion training of critical thinking and risk assessment. Ms. Gordon and LT Hargrove have taken safety promotion to the next level by incorporating actions to foster and maintain a positive safety climate, safety communication, and safety training into flight test safety education.  They have codified the traits of the command safety culture and those principles are what the command imbues in its flight test professionals.  They ensure risk assessment and test hazard analysis are inculcated in every process from the classroom to the cockpit.  By its own nature, USNTPS is a high-velocity learning environment and it is only able to safely accomplish its unique mission by placing the proper emphasis on safety. The actual safety practices and values the command strives to uphold become the safety cornerstone that the students experience and take with them as they progress in their flight test careers. Ms. Gordon and LT Hargrove are the driving force in the accomplishment of safe flight test training.