Aviation Regulations and Safety Management

This course introduces the basic principles of aviation safety, standards and regulations. It is divided in two parts.

ICAO standards and civil aviation regulations (3 CFU, SSD ING-IND/35)

The first part covers the following topics. Introduction to safety objectives and description the regulatory means to reach and maintain this level of safety. The main principles of the Chicago Convention, including the ICAO standards and recommended practices. Structure of the main technical regulations their hierarchy and applicability. The main applicable requirements for designing and manufacturing a product. EASA scope of competencies and the EU/EASA regulatory structure (basic regulation, Parts, CS, AMC/GM) for airworthiness and associated domains. Explanation on how users comply with the operational rules, operators’ responsibilities and state the main regulatory principles on aircraft maintenance.

Learning objectives

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

• state the air transport safety objectives, explain how these objectives are implemented at the international level and explain the responsibilities of the different contracting states

• describe the main international and European regulatory bodies’ activities and state the contents of the Chicago Convention

• explain how the main technical regulations are structured, describe their hierarchy and applicability and describe their structure

• explain the airworthiness certificates specificities and describe TC holders’ responsibilities

• state the main Part 21 procedures

• explain how users comply with the operational rules, describe operators’ responsibilities and

• state the main regulatory principles on aircraft maintenance

• state the ATM/ANS safety regulations, describe their overall content, describe their links and explain how some European countries have taken these regulations into account

Aviation safety management (3CFU) (3 CFU, SSD ING-IND/17)

According to the principles of ICAO Safety Management System (SMS), the second part of the course introduces general concepts of aviation risk and safety management, as well as definitions of hazards, incidents, accidents, and associated models. An overview of traditional models for risk and safety management: Heinrich model, Swiss Cheese Model, and Normal Accident Theory. Recent trends in aviation safety management: complexity theory, Safety-I vs. Safety-II and Resilience management and engineering. Different vision on human error and the role of human factor in complex socio-technical systems;. Safety Management System: structure and implementation. Just culture, safety reporting, definition and usage of taxonomies. Foundations of accident investigation.

Learning objectives

After completing this course, the student will be able to:

• understand and describe safety processes and events properly using terminology in line with the ICAO SMS

• interpret safety processes and events applying traditional models for aviation and safety management

• differentiate safety processes and events (depending on their complexity level) in order to apply advanced models and methods

• identify the role of human factor in safety processes and events according to different definitions of human error

• understand the different features of a SMS in relation to safety reporting and taxonomies

• develop a preliminary risk assessment for safety processes and events in a reactive and proactive perspective

• develop systemic analyses for complex aviation infrastructures and larger socio-technical systems

• possibly extend the acquired theoretical competences to other critical infrastructures having a complex socio-technical dimension (other transportation means, telecommunications systems, smart cities)