PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AirPhilExpress 320 off the RWY...Video from Inside
Old 18th Feb 2012, 09:51
  #43 (permalink)  
M.Mouse

Controversial, moi?
 
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British Airways has had for over 20 years a program called SESMA.

SESMA monitors pre-set parameters e.g. unstick speed high, excessive bank below a certain height. The pre-sets are fleet specific and can be added, removed or changed. The standalone SESMA tapes are ALL automatically analysed and if a tape has any exceedances it is automatically placed aside for human analysis.

The analysis team (which includes a pilot) examine the exceedance and if, for example, it was a very windy day the exceedance cause might be obvious and the investigation binned. If they want further information the team contact the fleet SEMA rep. who in turn is the only person who can access the crew details and he will call the crew to seek that information. He cannot reveal the crew names to anyone and the chat is strictly confidential.

If the matter involves, say, a deep landing on a very long runway, the matter would be discussed with any mitigating circumstances also discussed and the matter ends but the crew will have been given some food for thought and made aware of transgression in a suitably adult and non-penal way.

If the matter is very serious the rep. would do their utmost to encourage the crew to file an ASR when the matter and crew names would then become known to the powers that be and discussion, review and suitable re-training would ensue.

In reality the crew could refuse, and it has happened, so no further action can be taken but this rarely happens. What does normally happen is the crew are aware at the time of a serious exceedance, realise it will be flagged and file an ASR immediately anyway!

BA has a very open safety culture and providing, as crew, you hold your hand up and admit a mis-judgement you may receive further training but certainly not any disciplinary action.

It may sound a little 'big brother' but the program is readily accepted by all BA pilots that I have ever known (with the anonymity safeguards as above) and I doubt any would say it has anything other than a positive effect on flight safety.

One thing it most certainly achieves is that unwelcome trends will be picked up and newletter articles as well as simulator training focus will address those trends. Fleet SESMA events (disidentified) are published and discussed leading to good fleet awareness.

I know that a some years back there was great opposition from a US airline to the introduction of a similar program, that may have changed now, and I would guess that (natural) opposition would have been based on a mistrust of how the information would be used. In BA the system has been in place for well over 20 years and is probably little known outside BA but its positive worth has been shown many times over. While not eliminating misjudgement and error it goes a long way in trying to prevent landings such as witnessed at the beginning of this thread.

A strong and effective safety culture is difficult to engender and maintain and that is without taking into account cultural and financial issues!
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