FAA takes action to address safety concerns after General, BizAv call to action

Aviation News
Posted By: Haley Davoren, GlobalAir.com
Published: Mar. 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM EST
Updated: Mar. 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM EST

On Friday the FAA said it was taking immediate action on important safety concerns identified during Thursday’s General and Business Aviation Call to Action. The agency will continue to communicate reminders to pilots of the importance of checking NOTAMs and temporary flight restrictions, becoming familiar with destination airports, avoiding complacency and always paying close attention to onboard collision warnings. The FAA also announced several plans to tackle these safety issues and make general and business aviation safer.

The FAA will continue to communicate reminders to pilots through different outlets, highlighting the importance of several safety concerns.

These include:

• Checking NOTAMs for situations pilots can encounter during flight, including TFRs.
• Familiarity with their destination airport by reviewing aeronautical charts, Arrival Alert Notices and the FAA’s From the Flight Deck series.
• Avoid complacency by paying close attention to pre-flight checklists.
• Paying attention to onboard collision warnings, even if pilots do not think a real conflict will occur.

The FAA is taking steps to tackle the concerns as well. These steps include:

• Initiating a safety-risk analysis of close encounters between pilots flying visually and pilots flying under air traffic control.
• Increase the FAA Safety Team outreach on radio communication phraseology, NOTAMs and operations both in and around the highly controlled Class B airspace.
• The agency will continue working with Part 135 and air tour operators to implement mandatory Safety Management Systems to meet the implementation dates in Part 5.
• The FAA will also explore additional tools for pilots to assess operational risk and personal performance.

Beginning at the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee meeting, the FAA will collaborate with industry groups to talk about the safety actions raised during the Call to Action and develop a plan to make both general and business aviation safer.

“Safety is a collective effort that requires constant, proactive collaboration among all stakeholders,” Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau said. “Complacency is the enemy of safety and we need to be vigilant to address emerging risks before they become problems.”

The FAA held its Call to Action to identify and address recent safety incidents. Over two dozen FAA, industry and labor leaders attended the event. The sessions addressed three topics, and several new ideas emerged from the discussions.

VFR/IFR Interactions – This happens when pilots flying visually and pilots flying under air traffic control are operating in the same airspace.

• Examine methods to allow VFR aircraft to safely fly near and through Class B airspace.
• Continue the installation of aircraft-tracking technology in control towers.
• VFR Pilots can broadcast a specific code on transponders and monitor a specific radio frequency around airports with a mixture of VFR and IFR traffic. This will help controllers to keep the different types of operations safely away from each other.

Safety Drift – This describes the gradual deviation from established safety procedures and best practices.

• The FAA notes that a common thread in aviation accidents is Acceptance, Boredom and Complacency. Emphasize paying close attention to details, such as with the use of checklists.
• Incorporating scenario-based training could add to GA pilots’ training.
• Artificial Intelligence can also play a pivotal role in helping a pilot conduct a risk assessment before flight.

Safety Management

• Safety management is the formalized decision-making process that prioritizes safety.
• Safety management can be scalable for all types of aviation operations.
• Safety management occurs within individual operations as well as across industry segments.
• Continued work with stakeholders on the implementation of SMS to address and reduce the risk in operations and the National Airspace System is vital for the industry.

The Call to Action will launch a larger safety collaboration between the FAA and both general and business aviation communities. This will build upon existing partnerships such as the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee and the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing database. Session moderators included senior FAA leaders, the NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen, the EAA VP of Advocacy and Safety Sean Elliot, and NATA’s Managing Director of Air Charter and Maintenance Jenny Ann Urban.