Flight Safety Documentation System - I
1. INTRODUCTION: Development of a FSDS is a complete process. Changes to each document comprising the system may affect the entire system. Guidelines applicable to the development of operational documents have been produced by DGCA based on the recommendations of ICAO, current best industry practices and analysis of previous accident with emphasis on high degree of operational relevance.
Operator should verify that the functionality of their system is in compliance with the concepts outlined in CAR D5F-F1. DGCA inspectors will conduct a review of the FSDS to ensure that it is effective in providing vital safety information to flight crew in a timely manner.
Guidelines applicable to operational documents’ development tend to focus on a single aspect of documents design, for example, formatting and typography. Guidelines rarely cover the entire process of operational documents development.
It is important for operational documents to be consistent with each other, and consistent with regulations, manufacturer requirements and Human Factors principles. It is also necessary to ensure consistency across departments as well as consistency in application. Hence the emphasis should be placed on an integrated approach, based on the notion of the operational documents as a complete system.
2. ORGANIZATION : FSDS should be organized according to criteria which ensure easy access to information required for flight and ground operations contained in the various operational documents comprising the system and which facilitate management of the distribution and revision of operational documents.
Information contained in a FSDS should be grouped according to the importance and use of the information, as follows:
(i) Time critical information, e.g., information that can jeopardize the safety of the operation if not immediately available;
(ii) Time sensitive information, e.g., information that can affect the level of safety or delay the operation if not available in a short time period;
(iii) Frequently used information;
(iv) Reference information, e.g., information that is required for the operation but does not fall under (2) or (3) above; and
(v) Information that can be grouped based on the phase of operation in which it is used.
Time critical information should be placed early and prominently in the flight safety documents system.
Time critical information, time sensitive information, and frequently used information should be placed in cards and quick-reference guides.
VALIDATION : Flight safety documents system should be validated before deployment, under realistic conditions. Validation should involve the critical aspects of the information use, in order to verify its effectiveness. Interactions among all groups that can occur during operations should also be included in the validation process.
Consistency : flight safety documents system should maintain consistency in terminology and in the use of standard terms for common items and actions.
Operational documents should include a glossary of terms, acronyms and their standard definition, updated on a regular basis to ensure access to the most recent terminology. All significant terms, acronyms and abbreviations included in the flight documents system should be defined.
standardization : flight safety documents system should ensure standardization across document types, including writing style, terminology, use of graphics and symbols, and formatting across documents. This includes a consistent location of specific types of information, consistent use of units of measurement and consistent use of codes.
verification mechanism : flight safety document system needs to include a verification mechanism to ensure that, whenever a section of a document is amended, all other documents likely to be affected are identified and that consequential amendments are duly coordinated and agreed to by the responsible departments before the amendment is processed.
3. DEPLOYMENT :Operators should monitor deployment of the flight safety documents system to ensure appropriate and realistic use of the documents, based on the characteristics of the operational environment and in a way which is both operationally relevant and beneficial to operational personnel. This monitoring should include a formal feedback system for obtaining input from operational personnel.
4.1 AMENDMENT : Operators should develop an information gathering, review, distribution and revision control system to process information and data obtained from all sources relevant to the type of operation conducted, including, but not limited to, the State of Operator, State of design, State of Registry, manufacturers and equipment vendors.
4.2 Development : Operators should develop an information gathering, review and distribution system to process information resulting from changes that originate within the operator, including:
a) Changes resulting from the installation of new equipment;
b) Changes in response to operating experience;
c) Changes in an operator’s policies and procedures;
d) Changes in an operator certificate; and
e) Changes for purposes of maintaining cross fleet standardization.
4.3 Review : A flight safety documents system should be reviewed:
a) On a regular basis (at least once a year);
b) After major events (mergers, acquisitions, rapid growth, downsizing etc.)
c) After technology changes (introduction of new equipment); and
d) After changes in safety regulations.
4.4 Operators should develop methods of communicating new information. The
specific methods should be responsive to the degree of communication urgency.
Note.- As frequent changes diminish the importance of new or modified procedures, it is desirable to minimize changes to the flight safety documents system.
4.5 New information should be reviewed and validated considering its effects on the entire flight safety documents system.
4.6 The method of communicating new information should be complemented by a tracking system to ensure currency by operational personnel. The tracking system should include a procedure to verify that operational personnel have the most recent updates
Comments
Post a Comment