Business aviation could easily be safer than it is. Corporate operators and big fractional ownership companies could improve only a little as their standards are high, but for the rest it is a question of managing themselves better or being forced to do so.
The IS-BAO (International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations) is developing fast, and is well ahead of what most small business aviation operators actually do. That is a truism because it's a best-practice code, so by definition it's going to be better than the average, but it would be good to think that all operators would at least aspire to its standards. The IS-BAO is backed by the National Business Aviation Association and developed by the industry itself in the form of the International Business Aviation Council, and it's the way to go because it's an industry-led code of practice.
The US National Transportation Safety Board has identified a number of business jet accidents in the last two years that happened to operators which, says the agency, had no sign of an internal safety culture, let alone a safety management system.
There is so much available from organisations like the IBAC that small operators have no excuse for operating to low standards. If they don't come into line voluntarily they face two big sticks: one held by the insurance industry, now much more fussy than it has been, and the other by the aviation authorities.
Source: Flight International
