An accident-free commercial aviation system may be a destination we never quite reach during our careers as safety professionals. However, we have no choice but to make that journey. Nothing surpasses safety in importance, creating moral, ethical and professional obligations for each of us. We are driven to seek this ultimate vision for the air transportation system by the belief that together we will find ways to identify the hazards and manage the risks before they cause accidents.
In many countries, commercial aviation passengers and crewmembers benefit every day from the willingness of people in all professions that touch flight operations to voluntarily report, through nonpunitive channels, the hazards they observe and the errors they commit. For example, advances such as the aviation safety action programs (ASAP) and flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) programs in the United States, continue to play a critical role in processes that bring to light and widely share operat…
