As Senate Committee Reviews Aviation Safety, NBAA Unveils Runway-Focused Working Group

In written testimony submitted as part of a Senate hearing, National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) President and CEO Ed Bolen noted the business aviation community’s longstanding, comprehensive approach to aviation safety, and pointed to a new, dedicated NBAA working group focused specifically on runway and surface incidents.

“We are pleased to announce that NBAA is standing up a Runway and Surface Safety Working Group that will bring experts together across our committees, and across the industry, to address recent runway incidents and incursions,” said Bolen. The formation of the group is intended to build upon decades of experience acquired from the work of NBAA, its committees and the association’s broader membership, in concert with government agencies and experts across several professions, to maintain a holistic focus on aviation safety.

Bolen’s testimony was offered as part of the hearing, held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation. The hearing was titled, “Addressing Close Calls to Improve Aviation Safety.”

Review Bolen’s full testimony provided to the subcommittee.

NBAA’s new Runway and Surface Safety Group adds to the cross-disciplinary approach the association and its members have long taken to glean underlying causes from accidents and apply the learnings to future accident avoidance. The working group will include representation from several standing NBAA committees.

The work to apply real-world scenarios and data toward safety enhancements has resulted in the production of a host of NBAA tools that serve as authoritative sources on matters ranging from inflight safety, to hangar and ground safety, to human factors and other key elements in the aviation-safety equation.

The association also produces a list of Top Safety Focus Areas on a biennial basis and administers a Business Aviation Safety Manager Certificate Program to operators demonstrating leadership in safety best practices on the ground and in the air.

In his testimony, Bolen commended government leaders with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) and other stakeholder organizations to support an industry-wide focus on safety vigilance.

“Since NBAA was founded in 1947, we have been intentional in developing partnerships with government leaders and other stakeholders” in prioritizing safety, Bolen said. “NBAA will continue to engage with our members and other stakeholders to continually improve aviation safety.”