FAA ATO Safety Support

 

SENTEL provides support to the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) Safety office of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including the Office of Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) and the Operational Services Directorate.

The primary focus of the Office of ISA is the Independent Operational Assessment of new equipment designated for use within the National Airspace System.  This equipment includes the systems for communications; air traffic control; navigation; weather; automation for terminal, en route, and oceanic airspace; flight services; and security—from digital radios to airport surveillance equipment to weather and radar systems.

SENTEL supports these evaluations, which are performed in the operational environment, to assess the readiness of the systems for live use in the National Airspace System.  Independent Operational Assessments are conducted by user teams led by experienced FAA program managers independent of the system developer and acquisition organization.  SENTEL leverages its expertise in systems engineering, requirements assessment, documentation development, program management, and administrative support to help the FAA achieve its goals.

In addition, SENTEL supports the Office of ISA in conducting safety assessments of fielded NAS systems and air traffic control procedures; analyzing safety data; monitoring implemented risk mitigations; and developing, testing, and fielding radar playback software.

SENTEL safety professionals support the Operational Services Directorate by performing research, analysis, and product development for the ATO Safety Management System (SMS).  The SMS is a holistic and systematic approach designed to manage, monitor, and mitigate safety risk in the National Airspace System.  Chiefly, the SMS focuses on organizational safety culture, risk identification and treatment, post-implementation safety evaluations, and organizational compliance audits to address aviation safety.

SENTEL broadly supports the ATO’s development of SMS products and tools, including policy to document organizational SMS requirements; procedures for hazard identification and risk treatment; training to perform safety analyses and promote SMS awareness; and web-based services to document and track hazards.

A component of the SMS, Safety Risk Management, requires the development of safety analyses that document the potential safety impacts of air traffic operation and equipment changes.  SENTEL air traffic experts critique methodologies and assumptions of the safety analyses and recommend action to FAA air traffic personnel based on research and expert opinion from years of experience in the air traffic field.