Avionics News December 2012 - 14

In this monthly column, Ric Peri of the AEA’s Washington, D.C., office, informs members of the latest regulatory updates.

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P E R I A EA V I C E P R ES I D E N T O F G OV E R N M E N T & I N D U ST RY A F FA I RS

2012: The Year in Review
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012 is nearly complete. The election is over, Part extreme exception. However, the introduction of the AEA’s 145 comments are submitted, and well, it pretty SMS solution acknowledges that while we are very good, we much feels like it did in January. Even though we could be better. are ending the year very much like it began, 2012 was an The management system doesn’t really add anything new extremely busy year. or novel to avionics shop management, but rather takes the inThe Aircraft Electronics Association started the year hostdustry best practices and formalizes these practices across our ing the first-ever Federal Aviation Administration & Industry industry while keeping the cost of compliance to a minimum. Rotorcraft Forum to address the challenges the manufactures This solution meets the international requirements of SMS as well as the installers have been experiencing as they upgrade as well as any contractual requirements your customers may the cockpit of helicopters with proven safety-enhancing technologies. We know from the general aviation fleet that the E ve n t h o u g h we a r e e n d i n g t h e yea r ve r y m u c h safety-enhancing technologies reduce l i ke i t b e ga n , 2 0 1 2 wa s a n ex t r e m e l y b u s y yea r . fatalities. The forum created an open environment where the FAA’s Rotorcraft Directorate and the avionics industry could engage in an open dialog to find solutions to the chaldemand. While we were developing this program, we primarlenges we all face in designing, certifying, installing and mainily focused on International Civil Aviation Organization comtaining these life-saving technologies. The forum was a huge pliance rather than any one particular regulatory body, while success with quarterly meetings between the AEA and the Diat the same time, staying actively engaged with Transport rectorate and semiannual follow-up industry forums. The next Canada Civil Aviation and the FAA during each step of the Rotorcraft Forum is scheduled in the Dallas-Fort Worth area development process. in late January. For more information on the upcoming forum, The middle of the year saw the AEA participating in three visit www.aea.net. FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committees; the conclusion of At the 2012 AEA International Convention and Trade drafting the notice of proposed amendment for the B2L ruleShow, the AEA introduced its solution to safety management making in Europe; facilitating meetings with the Brazilian systems. By introducing a management system designed for National Civil Aviation Agency; and participating in rulemakthe avionics industry with a focus on small businesses, we ing, as well as participation in the Australian Strategic Air were able to design a management system in support of the Traffic Management Group. safety objectives of minimizing potential risks. We recognize The AEA also participated in what was referred to as the that overall we have a safe industry, and any maintenance ac312 ARC (aviation rulemaking committee). This rulemaking tion that contributes to an aviation incident or accident is an committee was established to satisfy Section 312 of the FAA
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Avionics News December 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News December 2012