Florida Tech Scholarship Named for Aviation Safety Expert, Russ Lawton
MELBOURNE, FLA. — The Air Charter Safety Foundation has established a scholarship in honor of its first safety director, the Florida Tech alumnus Russ Lawton. After a prolonged illness, Lawton, aviation safety expert, passed away Jan. 14 at the age of 70. Lawton ’74 A.S., ’76 graduated from Florida Tech with a bachelor’s degree in […]
Bryan Burns Traces ACSF Growth in Members, Safety Programs
Bryan Burns has steered the Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) through its near infancy to a multi-faceted safety organization that offers a variety of safety programs to charter operators. He joined ACSF in 2010, two years after it was formally established, as executive director and later became president. Burns brought 30 years of fixed-base operation […]
VIDEO: ASAP for Helicopter Operators
HAI’s Director of Safety Chris Hill talks to the ACSF’s President, Bryan Burns, about the ACSF’s Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) for helicopter operators. The following video was filmed in March, 2022 at the HELI-EXPO 2022 in Dallas, Texas. Below is a modified transcript of the video: Chris Hill: Hi, I’m Chris Hill, the Director of […]
ACSF Symposium Highlights Positive Work Culture Issues
As aviation reporting programs continue to expand as a key means to elevate safety, so too has the need for positive cultures to ensure the success of such programs, according to speakers at the recent 14th annual Air Charter Safety Foundation Safety Symposium. Workplace culture was among several safety themes highlighted during the two-day symposium […]
Flight Safety Foundation Honors Bryan Burns and Russ Lawton with Meritorious Service Award
Washington, DC, May 16, 2022 — On May 11, Bryan Burns and Russ Lawton, both aviation safety leaders from the Air Charter Safety Foundation (acsf.aero), were presented with the 2022 Business Aviation Meritorious Service Award for their contributions to business and charter aviation safety. The award was presented by Dr. Hassan Shahidi, the President and CEO […]
Ten Steps to Safer Charter
When your aircraft is down for maintenance or you have executives traveling in different directions at the same time, you may have need for supplemental lift. While legality checks, Safety Management Systems (SMS), third-party audits, and data sharing are all key indicators of an operator’s embrace of safety best practices, here are ten specific questions […]
Owning the Go-Around Button
New approach training improves go-around decision-making While we practice go-arounds in the sim, we seldom do them in the real world. However, accident data suggest we should judiciously use them when an approach isn’t going as planned. However, for the most part we are not given the tools in training we need to assess how […]
Air Charter Safety Is All About Culture
While the air charter industry is experiencing a business boon during the global COVID-19 recovery, some recent high-profile Part 135 accidents highlight the need for continued – even urgent – enhancements to safety. The reduction in some companies’ hiring requirements, along with more turnover than typically seen in the industry, can also create risks, especially […]
C-FOQA (FDM) is No Time for FOMO
When it comes to obscure abbreviations, social media has nothing on aviation. Our industry has been immersed in acronyms since the dawn of radio communications. But IMHO, sometimes it’s important for the rest of us – particularly business aircraft owners and charterers – to know what letters like C-FOQA and FDM stand for. In C-FOQA Is No Time […]
ERAU Finding Early Successes with Virtual Reality Training
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) introduced virtual reality (VR) to its flight training curriculum six months ago. And it’s already yielding results in terms of training time, costs, student preparedness, and confidence. Speaking during the recent Air Charter Safety Foundation Safety Symposium, ERAU College of Aviation assistant dean and chairman of the flight training department Ken Byrnes […]
