Safety summit brings together civil aviation authorities in São Paulo

Civil aviation authorities met on December 15th and 16th 2022 to discuss safety. In its seventh edition, the Safety Management Summit - SMS Brazil 2022 was attended by 200 people at the Radisson Paulista Hotel, in São Paulo. Promoted by the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), SMS Brazil is held annually in December as part of the celebration of the International Civil Aviation Day, celebrated on December 7.

The objective of the event is to provide the exchange and sharing of experiences between representatives of the civil aviation industry to discuss best practices in safety. In addition to strengthening the culture of safety in the airline industry as a mechanism to prevent aviation accidents.

On the first day, in the morning, the director of ANAC, Luiz Ricardo Nascimento, opened the event. Then, the head of the Safety Advisory, Wagner Morais, the expert in civil aviation regulation, Igor Penna, and the colonel specialized in air traffic control, Jorge Ávila, gave a speech on the new resolution on mandatory reporting of safety of the Brazilian state.

In the afternoon, the director of safety and operations of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA), Virginio Corrieri, presented the safety initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Soon after, a panel on Safety Management System (SMS) operationalization in maintenance organizations was held, with ANAC’s civil aviation regulation expert, Flávio Soares, Helisul Táxi Aéreo’s technical manager, Salvador Rodrigues, Dassault Sorocaba's quality assurance manager, Gledson Torres, and ABA Barreiras’ safety manager, Gustavo Monastério.

The first day ended with a panel prepared by the Brazilian Commercial Aviation Safety Team (BCAST). The group’s president, LATAM Commander Marcelo Leão, addressed safety enhancements proposed by BCAST and the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS), also known as TAWS (Terrain Awareness System).

On Friday, December 16, the director of ANAC, Rogério Benevides, opened the second day of lectures and panels. Benevides pointed out that “safety management involves the organization of resources, people, processes, and strategies to eliminate and mitigate risks before accidents or incidents occur, through the process of identifying hazards and collecting data, to improve safety performance. And to do this, we need to continuously foster a safety culture, defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the way in which people behave toward safety and risk without anyone looking. This is the essence from which none of us can walk away.”  

The coordinator of the Intelligence Management of ANAC’s Superintendency of Fiscal Action, Renato Hamilton, and the coordinator of the Technical Planning Management of ANAC’s Superintendency of Airworthiness, Germano Bayer, dealt with the new resolution on voluntary reporting of deviations and the mechanisms to enhance the positive culture for safety. Next, the Safety Manager and Head of Airworthiness (HO Airworthiness) of FlyingBasket, Marta Cejuela Martín, gave a presentation on SMS and addressed airworthiness for drones. And the operations manager of Zona da Mata Airport (SBZM), Robson Alvim, spoke about HSE operationalization in small and medium airports.

In the afternoon, the HSE operationalization panel in small and medium air operators took place, with the participation of the president of the Brazilian Helicopter Safety Team (BHEST), Gilvan Barros, the general aviation operations manager of ANAC's Operational Standards Superintendence, Bruno Del Bel, the quality and safety manager of CHC do Brasil Táxi Aéreo S.A, Rafael Ramos, and the operations director of VOAR Aviation Táxi Aéreo e Manutenção Ltda, Wagner Gropelo.

SMS Brazil 2022 ended with a panel of the Brazilian General Aviation Safety Team (BGAST) on Corporate Resource Management (CRM) and had the participation of the technical-regulatory manager of the Brazilian General Aviation Association, Raul Marinho, and the aviation safety expert, Nícolas Ramos.