We have the personnel, capability and expertise to provide a variety of aviation safety auditing functions. Most of these audits address issues that are important to an airline, especially those airlines subject to the FAA safety oversight. These audits tend to fall into the following categories
The following discussion gives more detail for each of these types of audits.
Regulatory Audits
Our Associates had extensive careers within the FAA, serving on local, regional and national inspection teams. They are very good at going to the heart of compliance problems. We are able to provide comprehensive regulatory audits under FAR 91, 121, 135 or 145 for
- Airlines
- Air Taxis
- Corporate Operators
- Fractional Operations
These audits will include an assessment of compliance with the regulations and a review of the records maintained by the operator. The deliverable will be a written report specifically addressing each applicable regulation, the level of compliance and any issues that should be addressed (including the recommended priority).
IEP-EPI Audits
Our Associates also conduct assessments and inspections on behalf of airline IEP (Internal Evaluation) Programs both from a regulatory standpoint and an evaluation of the application of the company processes by company and contractor personnel. They use your audit checklists or the FAA Element Performance Inspection (EPI) data collection tools to make their assessment.
Operators identify the extent of these audits, usually selecting the specific EPI documents they would like to be applied in the audit. The deliverables will be
- A written report outlining the findings and general recommendations;
- Specific recommendations for improvement of records and procedures; and
- Identification of process/procedures that may warrant concentrated Safety Attribute Inspection.
- Identification of issues that should be "self-disclosed" to the FAA.
FAA-SAI Audits
Our Associates have demonstrated expertise assessing the extent to which an airline's written process manuals include the regulatory requirements and the FAA Safety Attribute Inspection (SAI) data collection tools elements. As a part of this audit, our Associates will also provide recommendations (and suggested editing) to ensure that the entire process incorporates the "Systems Safety" attributes, plus the procedures contain the who, what, when, where, how and why documentation.
Operators identify the extent of these audits, usually selecting the specific SAI Element data collection tool(s) they would like applied in the audit. The deliverables will be
- A written report outlining the findings and general recommendations;
- Adobe Acrobat copies of the existing documents and/or excerpts containing the team's embedded comments and suggested editing to conform to the applicable FAA-SAI; and
- An Adobe Acrobat copy of the "process" document (with embedded comments) constructed by the team during the audit. This is an invaluable tool for illustrating to management the necessity for inclusion of the Safety Attributes.
Systems Safety Alignment of Airline Manual System
The FAA has implemented internally their ATOS oversight program which relies heavily on their SAI and EPI data collection tools. The FAA generally requests that the airline provide proof of compliance with those SAIs that can be affected when the operator applies to add new aircraft types and upgrades to other programs requiring added certifications. Prudent managers should be proactive to align its policy/procedure manuals - from the old "policy only" format - to now include the Safety Attributes associated with Systems Safety concepts.
Coping with the FAA's ATOS approach involve a dramatic paradigm shift formost airline technical managers. Most will not have the time or expertise to do the staff work required to make these changes. It would be prudent for the airline top management to consider contracting for consultant groups such as AVSOG to spearhead this alignment.
We can provide a secure, parallel technical publications function for the duration of this process which has proven to be the best method for this process. When that transition is completed, we would complete a thorough SAI audit of the manual system, flesh out the procedures, controls and process measures, interface them in the document system, tag the paragraphs with SAI and SRR references, and finalize the company compliance statement. Then we would arrange an audit for conformance with regulations and SAI requirements requirements by specialized auditors before recommending the package to the FAA.
It is also possible to complete the ATOS alignment on an element-by-element basis. That takes longer. Even then it is best to run the parallel technical publications function. The process just goes faster when airline technical managers are not tinkering directly with the manual system for the duration of the alignment process. Either way, our Associates can provide invaluable assistance.
Civil Aviation Safety Oversight Assessment
We have Associates who have conducted a combined total of more than 35 assessments of civil aviation safety oversight in countries all over the globe on behalf of the FAA. They are uniquely qualified to conduct these assessments and provide very specific recommendations for upgrade of a civil aviation authoritys safety oversight processes. The assessment normally takes a total of 5 days for the audit and completion of the report.
The deliverables will be a comprehensive report of the status of the safety oversight processes and very specific recommendations for upgrading those processes. Our Associates have practical, hands-on experience in the specific deliverables that result in acceptable safety oversight programs. They have also been employed by some countries to pre-audit a country's aviation safety oversight program before an before an audit by an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) or the FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program.
Auditing the Formal Application
Effective CAA Oversight