ASAP Case Studies August 2026
Closing the Loop: Airworthiness Directives Just before [tail number] went in for a scheduled inspection, a new Airworthiness Directive (AD) was issued against the aircraft. We promptly sent [company name] an updated due list identifying the AD as an outstanding task requiring action before the aircraft could be considered airworthy. However, during the inspection, the […]
Safety Spotlight: Safety Is Its Own Profession: Tenure Isn’t Training
Who’s running your safety program? If the honest answer is “whoever had the bandwidth,” you’re not alone. Trust, tenure, and operational know-how are reasonable places to start. Most safety leads come up that way, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Somebody must own the program, and the person who knows the operation cold is a […]
Ground Operations Working Group July 2026 Update
Ground damage is one of aviation’s most persistent risk areas, and one of its most underreported. It happens on ramps, in hangars, during tows, and on taxiways, often without fanfare and sometimes without anyone knowing exactly when or how. ACSF’s Ground Operations Working Group has spent the past several months building a clearer picture of […]
Building a Strong Business Case for Aviation Safety with the ACSF Safety ROI Calculator
Safety professionals know where the risks are. The ACSF Safety ROI Calculator makes it presentable. Every day, safety professionals identify hazards, evaluate operational exposures, and develop practical solutions that can reduce the likelihood of an accident or incident. The challenge isn’t usually recognizing what needs to be done; it’s gaining approval to do it. For […]
Ground Operations Working Group June 2026 Update
The Ground Operations Working Group has reached a milestone moment, as ground operations safety data has been compiled and is awaiting presentation to the working group. This reflects the willingness of stakeholders to provide data that furthers this discussion, and the dedication of ACSF staff to ensure it is compiled and available for review. Thank […]
ASAP Case Studies June 2026
Operated with Incorrect and Out of CG Weight and Balance During recent flights, we used the automatically generated weight and balance reports provided by the flight dispatch system. I observed that several of these reports showed Weight and Balance figures outside the aircraft’s approved limitations and service envelope. The automated Weight and Balance calculations appear […]
You’re Responsible for That Too: Managing Third-Party Risk in Business Aviation
In business aviation, operators often have a vast network of third-party vendors, most of whom touch on the operator’s own safety and compliance. How can you manage risk that you’re responsible for, but don’t have direct control over? It’s one of the most persistent challenges in the industry, and nobody has fully solved it. What […]
The Launch of Serious About Safety – The ACSF Podcast
Welcome to the first episode of the Serious About Safety Podcast from the Air Charter Safety Foundation. In this episode, Clarifying the Cabin Role, we take a closer look at the critical role cabin personnel play in business aviation safety. While flight attendants are often associated with customer service and hospitality, their responsibilities go far beyond passenger comfort. Cabin […]
Safety Spotlight: Risk Tolerance: The Foundation Beneath Every Risk Decision
In any functional safety system, the key component is effectively managing risk. We talk a lot about identifying hazards, mitigating them, and following up to ensure those mitigations hold. Simple enough in concept. But there’s one conversation that needs to happen before any of that work is meaningful, and it’s the one most organizations skip. […]
Safety Spotlight: From Checklist to Capability: Rethinking Emergency Response Plans
Emergency Response Plans (ERPs) are like insurance: you have them, but hope you never need to use them. Unlike insurance, though, they are not “set and forget” documents. ERPs should be all-encompassing, heavily trained, regularly reviewed, and routinely exercised. You don’t want the first live event to be the first time your ERP has been […]