Alexandria VA, November 17, 2010 – The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) Industry Audit Standard (IAS) registration was recently listed as an accepted method of compliance with Safety Management System (SMS) requirements by the Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation (BDCA).
A letter issued on behalf of the Bermuda Director of Civil Aviation states that the BDCA will enforce the requirements of ICAO Annex 6 Part 2 when it becomes effective on November 18, 2010. These requirements affect all operators of general aviation aircraft operated under FAR Part 91 and Part 125 or equivalent with a Maximum Take-Off Weight of greater than 12,500 lbs.
The BDCA will accept several methods of compliance with the requirement for an SMS, one of which includes ACSF registration. This letter has been posted on the DCA Web site at: http://www.dca.gov.bm/default.aspx
The IAS is a universal audit standard developed specifically for charter operators and shared aircraft management companies to accomplish two key functions – to verify compliance with regulatory requirements and to evaluate the level of compliance with recognized SMS standards.
The ACSF audit process and registry were developed to position an operator, through a single audit, to gain world-wide recognition of its SMS program. The IAS is also the only program that evaluates operators every 24 months rather than annually, minimizing the administrative burden on operators and program managers.
The ACSF IAS requires every operator to complete an internal pre-audit prior to scheduling an on-site audit. Doing so enables operators to gauge, before any payment is tendered, how well they will perform during the audit. This system allows an operator to determine in advance of any payment if they are not yet ready to proceed to audit. Operators completing the pre-audit won’t be unprepared and will not waste their money paying for an unsuccessful audit.
Supporting materials are available at acsfdev.com/audit. Operators wishing to initiate the audit process should contact Russ Lawton or Alison McHugh at 1-888-SAFE-135 (888-723-3135).