Fire and Aviation Management, Aviation Safety Management Systems

Banner: US Forest Service, Fire and Aviation, Aviation Safety Management Systems. Photo of a helicopter with rappelers.

Aviation Safety Promotion

This page is a collection of information to promote safety
as a core value with practices that support a positive safety culture.

www.safecom.gov

The SAFECOM system fulfills the Aviation Mishap Information System (AMIS) requirements for aviation mishap reporting for the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Department of Interior (DOI). The USFS and DOI uses the SAFECOM Form AMD-34/FS-5700-14 to report any condition, observation, act, maintenance problem, or circumstance with personnel or the aircraft that has the potential to cause an aviation-related mishap.

Organizational learning is crucial to our future as a leader in fire and aviation. It is important that we maintain a just environment that encourages open and honest reporting of our mistakes and failures as well as our successes. It is essential that we continually learn from our experiences, both good and bad, and improve our effectiveness and execution. The Forest Service must develop the knowledge and skills of our employees to maintain and enhance our mission capabilities. As Forest Service employees, it is our responsibility to report any hazardous condition/observation/act, incident or maintenance deficiency that could jeopardize our mission.

See SAFETY ALERTS IA 06-01 - The SAFECOM system - Your chance to speak out and IA 08-07 - Effective SAFECOM Use, and a short presentation on SAFECOMS.

SAFECOMS are a tool used to identify, document, track, and correct safety related issues. It is NOT to be used for the following:

NOT to be used by contracting officers for any purpose
NOT for initiating punitive action
NOT a substitute for "on-the-spot" corrections to a safety concern
NOT a complaint system
NOT for personal attacks
NOT a replacement for initiating a mishap report

SAFECOMs provide the necessary feedback for development of the following communication tools:

Accident Prevention Bulletins
AirWards
Information sharing Memos
Lessons Learned
Maintenance deficiencies (ADs, SBs, etc)
Safety Alerts
Safety trends
Technical Bulletins
Training needs

Alerts and Bulletins are bordered in different stripped colors and published on an as needed basis. They are utilized to disseminate information of significant nature regarding aviation safety, technical data, mishap prevention information and lessons learned. Most of the alerts and bulletins are generated from SAFECOM reports and mishap investigations. Click on the links below to see the alerts and bulletins for each of the following categories.

Technical Bulletins

Information Bulletins

Accident Prevention Bulletins

Lessons Learned

AIRWARD Newsletters are published to recognize individuals and groups for professional performance and significant contributions to aviation safety and mishap prevention. Click here to read Airward News.

"SAFE ATTITUDE" is the interagency safety awareness campaign designed to help people understand that "attitude is everything" in aviation. Airwards reinforce safety as a core value and encourage prevention of aviation mishaps. Everyone is eligible to nominate or be nominated for an Airward. Nominations are submitted through a SAFECOM or by contacting a Regional Aviation Safety Manager.

Airwards are given to people working in and around aviation in recognition of their professional performance during a hazardous aviation event or significant contribution to aviation mishap prevention. Airward recipients are featured in Airward News sharing stories on who's doing things right and sparking new ideas for different operations and programs.

Aviation User and Management Training

The Forest Service uses aircraft in the support or accomplishment of many of our programs and projects. These aircraft users are as many and varied as the types of aircraft used. Our goal is to accomplish safe, efficient, and effective utilization of aviation resources. Increasing employee awareness of agency policy, procedures, and safe practices must receive high priority. Aviation training, whether basic safety, specialized, or management, is a method to increase this awareness and a key to meeting this goal.

There are several venues for aviation training; the most prevalent in our organization is Interagency Aviation Training (IAT), National Wildfire Coordination Group (NWCG) and System Safety Leadership Aviation Management (SSLAM). The Forest Service is now in its fifth year of a partnership with UC Davis for a collegiate certificate program in System Safety Leadership Aviation Management. Go to the Aviation Training web page for more training information and scholarship information.

The Aviation Safety Library consists of links to several military and other government Aviation Safety web sites, federal land management aviation web sites and other miscellaneous SMS information.

If you have trouble accessing some of the pdf files on this site, it may be because you are using an old version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. To solve this problem, download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here.