Training Aircraft Safety Support

Challenge

The establishment of the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) and their new Regulatory Publications placed enhanced responsibilities on DE&S Project Teams in terms of equipment safety management. Following an MAA audit, the Tucano and Gliders Support Authority found themselves subject to a warning notice that required urgent attention.
The project team lacked the evidence and analysis necessary to underpin a credible safety argument for the three aircraft types. Their key challenges were:

• Hazard identifi cation and management was only reactive to events
• Risk management was not evidence-based or prioritised
• Operators, Duty Holders and Regulators lacked confi dence in the safety management processes

Approach

RINA deployed a focused team of Safety Engineers to engage with subject matter experts, both pilots and engineers, at UKMFTS PT operating bases. For each aircraft we delivered: a new hierarchical Hazard Log, read-across and verifi cation of legacy hazard data, a Loss Model, Preliminary Risk Estimation for all hazards and an assessment of the Aggregate Risk to Life from the equipment. All of this was achieved with full stakeholder engagement.

Conclusion

Our analysis is evidence-based and of decision-making quality. For UKMFTS PT it was detailed, yet presented in an accessible manner, meaning that the client could really understand the hazards aff ecting their aircraft. With our sophisticated modelling, we were able to determine the eff ect of changes and answer “what if?” questions with ease. This was exemplifi ed by the decisions subsequently made to implement risk reduction measures such as improvements to engine instrumentation and collision avoidance systems. UKMFTS PT can now confi dently assert that their risks are managed to As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).