Safety in Business Aviation

Business Aviation is essentially driven by the demand for a facility for travel to destinations across the country and around the world by senior business executives of private companies both domestic and international. They patronise a system of transportation that provides for speed, flexibility, efficiency, productivity, convenience and above all with the highest standards of safety. In many instances, business aviation is the appropriate transportation solution, opening the door to global commerce for small community and rural populations by linking them directly to population and industrial centres.

Business aviation comes with a number of attributes that scheduled airlines are bereft of. As compared with airliners, business aviation aircraft can provide access to far larger number of airports and can in a single day enable business executives to travel to multiple destinations quickly and efficiently, something that is impossible to achieve with other modes of transportation. Business aircraft allow senior executives to return to headquarters the same day thus effecting substantial savings not only of time, but of money as well, by way of expenditure on hotel accommodation and other related facilities over the number of days that would be needed to make the same trip by other means of transportation.

Business aviation also serves as a unique productivity tool. While flying on board a business aircraft, senior executives of the company can utilise the time span during which they are airborne to continue their business activities such as holding meetings, conferences and discussions in an environment that is secure and immune to any kind of monitoring by rivals. The senior executives can also remain networked with their headquarters throughout the duration of their flight. This can be critical for companies especially in the context of rapidly changing situations. Scheduled airlines cannot offer such facilities.

Types of Aircraft Employed in Business Aviation

The types of aircraft that are employed for business aviation are varied and range from propeller-driven piston engine or turboprop aircraft that operate at low to medium altitudes, to aircraft powered by jet engines that operate at high altitudes and even to rotary-wing platforms. Piston engine aircraft used for business aviation manufactured by global companies like Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft or Diamond, are small platforms that can carry up to six passengers. These aircraft typically fly relatively short missions of 500 to 700 km at altitudes under 15,000 feet, and are often required to land at very small general aviation airports that could be without air traffic control towers. This obviously would have implications for safety of the aircraft.

Turboprop aircraft employed for business aviation are generally larger than piston engine aircraft, can carry around eight passengers and can operate up to altitudes of around 30,000 feet. Turboprop aircraft have lower operating costs than jets because they burn less fuel, but they are also slower than jets. Turboprops are an attractive option for businesses that need to fly missions requiring up to 1,600 km of travel between general aviation airports that often have runways too short to accommodate jets. Some of the companies manufacturing turboprop business aircraft are Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft, Piaggio, Piper and Pilatus. Business jets can carry around a dozen or more passengers and some of the high-end platforms are capable of undertaking non-stop transcontinental flights. These aircraft may fly at altitudes even in excess of 40,000 feet. Some of the companies that manufacture business jets are Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault Falcon Jet, Embraer, Gulfstream and Hawker Beechcraft.

Helicopters are employed in business aviation for very short flights of usually less than 200 km and generally operate at altitudes of less than 1,000 feet. These platforms can carry up to six passengers. Helicopters are the obvious choice for company executives to fly to destinations where there is no runway for fixed-wing business aircraft to operate from. Some of the manufacturers of helicopters for business aviation are Bell, Eurocopter, Sikorsky and AgustaWestland.

Air Safety in Business Aviation

In any aviation activity, be it scheduled airlines or business and general aviation, safety of the aircraft and its occupants remains the primary concern for all operators. Accidents involving airliners hit the headlines quite easily as these usually involve heavy loss of life amongst both passengers and crew, usually with a multinational composition. In all likelihood, such accidents are also accompanied by substantial collateral damage on the ground. On the other hand, quite understandably, accidents involving business aircraft do not attract media attention or public notice to the extent accidents involving airliners do. Nevertheless, accidents involving business aircraft are as much a matter of concern not only for the operators, but for the regulatory authorities and international aviation associations or bodies as well.

Statistics related to the record of air safety in business aviation in the US and UK, the two major players in this regime, have not been very inspiring. As per a study report, in the US, since the beginning of the last decade, number of accidents resulting in fatalities involving private and chartered corporate aircraft have been five times more than airliners. As per the investigating agencies, 88 per cent of the accidents were attributable to pilot error. In some cases, the crew failed to go through the mandatory safety checks or ignored obvious hazards such as accumulation of ice on the wings of the aircraft. Errors by the crew were sometimes not on account of deliberate negligence on their part, but were attributable to excessive fatigue owing to inordinately long working hours.

Across the Atlantic, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the United Kingdom published a paper on safety in the operation of business jets. The report stated that in the period 2000 to 2007, the rate of fatal accidents involving large Western-built jet airliners was approximately 0.2 per cent per million miles flown. In contrast, the estimated fatal accident rate for all civil operated business jets in the same period was 1.7 per cent per million miles flown. Thus the accident rate for business jets was a little over eight times that for airliners.

While the reports on the safety record of business aviation may appear to be disconcerting, there are indications that the situation has fortunately been undergoing change for the better. The CAA has reported that the rate of fatal accidents involving business jets was one per 600 aircraft throughout the 1990s. This improved to one per 900 aircraft in the next decade. The rate of fatal accidents reduced to one in 5,000 aircraft in 2011, making it the safest year ever for business aviation.

Risks to Business Aviation Aircraft

Unlike airliners operating scheduled services, business aircraft are often required to fly in uncontrolled airspace and operate from smaller airports with limited facilities. This exposes business aircraft operators to risks that airlines do not face. But perhaps a more potent threat that is emerging to business aviation aircraft is on account of the unbridled proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. As drones also operate largely in uncontrolled airspace and their operations are as yet largely unregulated, the possibility of conflict with business aviation aircraft is real and is posing new challenges to aircraft operators and air traffic management alike. This is an emerging hazard to aviation safety in general and to business aviation in particular.

Safety Management System

Compared with scheduled service operators, for those responsible for the management of business aviation aircraft, the task of ensuring high levels of safety is a formidable challenge. Aviation managers are required to implement safety Management System (SMS) which is a systematic approach to managing safety. This includes the necessary organisational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures. As per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements, service providers are responsible for establishing an SMS, which is accepted and overseen by their State. An SMS is scalable so it can be tailored to the size and complexity of the organisation. SMS is becoming a standard practice throughout the aviation industry worldwide. It is recognised by the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), ICAO and civil aviation authorities across the world and product/service providers as the next step in the evolution of safety in aviation. Many aircraft operators have SMS systems in place, but few have implemented technology driven processes in their fundamental operating procedures that impact all aspects of their business. The NBAA Safety Committee has identified “professionalism” as the cornerstone of any Safety Management System. Professionalism in aviation is the pursuit of excellence through discipline, ethical behaviour and continuous improvement.

The writer is a former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Training Command, Indian Air Force.