ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — The European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) Data4Safety program and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Traffic Organization’s Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) will be honored in November by Flight Safety Foundation for their outstanding contributions to safety and the aviation industry. The two groups will be recognized during an awards dinner held in conjunction with Flight Safety Foundation’s 77th annual International Aviation Safety Summit (IASS), scheduled for Nov. 5–7 in Rio de Janeiro.
EASA’s Data4Safety (D4S) will receive the Jerome Lederer Safety Leadership Medal for bringing together stakeholders from across Europe to collect and cooperatively analyze a massive amount of digital data and safety reports to identify systemic risks at the European Union level and to mitigate those risks. D4S, launched with a feasibility study in 2015, continues to grow and represents collaboration for aviation safety on a scale unprecedented in European aviation.
“This award is a global recognition of the ambitious work and achievements of EASA in the field of aviation data sharing and analysis, made possible by the instrumental contribution of the EASA Member States and our industry,” said EASA Executive Director Florian Guillermet. “Data4Safety will equip EASA to take an increasingly proactive, collaborative, and data-centric approach to aviation safety.”
The Jerome Lederer Safety Leadership Medal was established to recognize an individual or team for making a significant contribution to the advancement of civil aviation safety through demonstrated organizational or industry leadership and by developing or advancing programs that will have a lasting impact on civil aviation.
FAA’s Air Traffic Organization will be honored with the Foundation’s David Morrison Innovation Award for its efforts to rapidly develop and deploy SAI, which tracks the movement of arriving and departing aircraft leveraging ADS-B, assists air traffic control in determining the proximity of those aircraft, provides controllers with surface movement information to improve their situational awareness, and aids in decision-making. Work on SAI began in 2023, and it has been deployed at several U.S. airports, with another 14 deployments expected by the end of the year.
The David Morrison Innovation Award recognizes an individual, a team, or an organization for notable innovation in civil aviation. The award is for both technological innovation and process transformation.
“This year’s award recipients highlight the power of collaboration and innovation in addressing today’s critical safety challenges. Both EASA’s Data4Safety and the FAA’s SAI showcase how long-term vision and rapid implementation can drive meaningful safety advancements across the aviation industry,” said Flight Safety Foundation President and CEO Dr. Hassan Shahidi. “The common threads linking this year’s recipients are collaboration, dedication, and focus.”
The Jerome Lederer Safety Leadership Medal is named for Jerry Lederer, one of the founders of the Foundation, who, in the 1940s, was first to facilitate the exchange of safety information through the sharing of critical information among airlines, government, and industry, saving countless lives.
The David Morrison Innovation Award is named for another FSF founder. Morrison was an inventor and cockpit designer who played a critical leadership role in the early days of the Foundation.
For more information on IASS and the awards dinner and to register for the safety summit, please visit the IASS 2024 page on the Foundation website.
About Flight Safety Foundation
Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, international organization engaged in research, education, advocacy, and communications to improve aviation safety. The Foundation’s mission is to connect, influence, and lead global aviation safety.
Media Contact:
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