NBAA’s New Video Safety Series Offers Practical Guidance for SMS Implementation
/The National Business Aviation Association’s (NBAA’s) Safety Committee has unveiled the first video in a three-part series detailing practical steps for compliance with a safety management system (SMS) requirement for certain business aircraft operations that was released last year.
The rule, finalized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in April 2024, requires all Part 135 operators, certain Part 21 certificate holders and §91.147 air tour operators to implement an SMS, essentially expanding existing Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 5 SMS requirements to these parties, and adding some new mandates to Part 5.
The NBAA Safety Committee’s new 20-minute video, “FAA Part 5 SMS for Small Operators: Safety Policy & Safety Promotion,” is a step-by-step guide detailing one hypothetical flight operation’s creation of a practical and effective SMS in alignment with FAA Part 5 regulations. The guidance is drawn in part from the experiences and best practices of operators that have adopted the required SMS.
“We recognized a gap in accessible, relatable and scenario-based guidance that simplifies regulatory compliance and showcases real-world SMS application,” said Amanda Ferraro, CAM, and SMS Working Group lead for the NBAA Safety Committee.
Watch NBAA’s new SMS video in NBAA’s Part 5 SMS for Small Operators Resource
The NBAA Safety Committee anticipates the release of a second video in the coming weeks, with a third video following in the coming months, which address safety risk management and safety assurance components of SMS. “Taken together, these videos are designed to bring the SMS framework to life,” Ferraro added.
The new videos provide the latest safety focused guidance from NBAA in a year that has brought aviation safety into sharp focus, given a series of tragic, high-profile accidents and troubling incidents, putting a sharp focus on flight safety.
In February, NBAA hosted a first-of-its-kind webinar, “Is it Safe to Fly?,” which brought together leading experts to highlight several steps immediately available to enhance safety, including an expanded application of technology toward accident reduction, an increased use of data sharing to continually refine safety training and a recommitment to a just-culture framework for accident assessment.
In March, NBAA joined a number of other leading industry groups in launching the National General Aviation Safety Pause initiative, which encourages general aviation pilots to take 15 to 60 minutes to review curated safety videos, articles and other resources – including those specific to business aviation – to sharpen their focus on flying safely.
In April, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen was among the aviation leaders selected to testify before a House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee hearing focused on aviation safety. Among other recommendations, Bolen encouraged the expansion of the FAA’s Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing initiative, which has proven effective at highlighting root causes for accidents and reducing them.
In May, NBAA published the latest annual edition of the association’s safety focused Business Aviation Insider magazine, including a forensic review of several recent business aircraft accidents, and the potentially life-saving lessons offered by those events.
Learn more about NBAA’s safety resources.
The NBAA Safety Committee is developing other dedicated safety resources, including an all-new roster of safety content throughout the 2025 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) coming to Las Vegas from Oct. 14-16. Learn more about the safety events at NBAA-BACE, the world’s most powerful annual business aviation event.