2022 Arkansas Safety Stand Down
What is the 2022 Arkansas Flight Safety Standdown?
The safety standdown is a long-standing tradition in the aviation community. The standdown was put to first large-scale use by the US Air Force in the 1970s. After a major accident, incident, or series of incidents, the unit involved or the operators of similar aircraft would standdown until a cause could be identified. This tradition continues to this day and has spread to many aviation communities. Thankfully, aviation safety improved by leaps and bounds, and the safety standdown has primarily turned into a planned event.
The Arkansas FAASTeam and the Arkansas Flight Safety Cooperative are sponsoring a state-wide standdown this year to provide our state’s aviation community a day to focus on aviation safety and re-cage our focus. We all tend to get complacent about things over time, and leaving the planes in the hanger for one day a year so we can talk about safety is a small way we can guard against that.
Grassroots
Grassroots is a word that I feel gets tossed about a lot. Many times, folks want us to believe that a movement has started from the ground up, that we, the common people, have decided we want to do something. More often than not, I find the use of the word disingenuous. When I use it here to describe our safety standdown, I hope you don’t feel the same way. I hope that we can use this day to go out on the proverbial lawn and apply a healthy dose of turf-building seeds that will result in a yard that Augusta’s groundskeeper would envy.Seriously though, the grassroots part is essential to me. Suppose the most important general aviation stakeholders (individual pilots and AMTs) don’t take ownership of building a solid safety culture. In that case, the government could come in and do it for us. I’m not the only kid that had their toys threatened if I didn’t clean my room. “If you don’t clean up these toys, I’m just going to throw them away.” I’m sure many exasperated parents have spoken a version of this sentence. It’s an essential lesson as a kid: If you don’t take responsibility for your toys, you could lose the privilege of having them. We have already seen examples of this, like the congressionally mandated training resulting from the Colgan Air Flight 3407 accident in 2009.
Due to the remarkable improvements in aviation safety through the years, the tolerance for accidents is near zero. Combine that with the prevalence of recording devices and social media, and you have an environment where every accident goes viral. Soon, General Aviation runs the risk of developing a wild west reputation. That’s when GA becomes the gofer in the manicured golf course. If we aren’t careful, we will catch the attention of Carl Spackler, and pretty soon, all that’s left of that beautiful, Augusta-quality turf is a smoldering ruin. The only difference will be GA won’t go dancing off into the sunset. Ok, maybe I’m stretching the grass analogy too far, but I happen to be a Caddy Shack fan and couldn’t resist.
Let’s all agree to set aside one day this year to focus on aviation safety. Let’s work together to build a culture of safety. Let’s take ownership of that safety culture in our state.