Position Paper IFALPA: Pilot Participation in Safety Risk Assessments
IFALPA strongly supports the implementation and execution of thorough risk assessments by safety departments to ensure in-depth safety analysis. Most current risk assessment practices do not include pilot safety advocates from the Member Association. IFALPA recognizes the vital role of these frontline pilots in ensuring the highest standards of aviation safety. The positive effect on flight safety through risk assessments in the context of a functioning safety management system is well recognized (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: Dangerous Goods on RPAS and UAS
Whilst the transport of DG on manned aircraft is heavily regulated, in most States there is currently no set of regulations that controls how DG are transported by RPAS and UAS. The carriage of DG by RPAS and UAS should only take place at a level of safety equivalent to the one guaranteed by ICAO provisions for manned aircraft (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: PED Smoke or Fire Response Kits
Some airlines have been providing containment bags or boxes to crew members as part of their Dangerous Goods smoke or fire response kits, to deal with a potential thermal runaway of PEDs. IFALPA believes that these items need to meet certain requirements before being considered suitable for use (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: Deidentified Accident Reporting
In an occurrence report, identifying the individuals involved has no safety benefit and can only lead to the attribution of blame or liability. The traits or experience that contributed to the event are sufficient in identifying safety risks and addressing measures of prevention (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: Carriage of Persons on Cargo Aircraft
Reference is sometimes made to Dangerous Goods Regulations to determine which persons are allowed onboard commercial transport aircraft (both passenger and cargo). This determination is not the role of the DG regulatory structure and goes well beyond its scope. The final decision to accept any persons onboard should be left to the pilot-in-command (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: Use of Social Media by Pilots
This paper supersedes 18POS25, of the same name. The omnipresence of social media in modern society has blurred the separation between our working and personal lives. As innocent as posting a status update or a short comment may seem, what people do and say on social media can result in serious consequences (...)
Position Paper IFALPA/IFATCA: Disruption of Satellite-Based Signals
This paper supersedes 21POS07, of the same name. Modern air traffic relies heavily on the internal accuracy of aircraft systems and the aircraft's ability to monitor its own reliability. Satellite-based Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) services have been playing a growing part in the overall ATM system and aircraft are becoming more reliant on space-based signals (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: Operational Experience in Fatigue Management Decision-Making
Proper fatigue management requires the use of operational experience to be incorporated into the decision-making process. IFALPA has identified that there is a need across the industry to standardize and discuss what the term “operational experience” means in practical implementation. While this paper addresses fatigue management, the topic also applies to broader safety management principles (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: Take-off Performance Considering Inversions
A rise of the OAT during climb-out at an inversion layer does happen often. Whenever there is a condition that the engines are operating at or close to the maximum flat rated temperature, a temperature rise leads to a loss of thrust. This can be in a range of 8-12% for a rise of 10°K (...)
Position Paper IFALPA: Weather Radar
There are multiple weather hazards that can be identified by a weather radar, e.g. thunderstorms, towering cumulus clouds, cumulonimbus clouds, clouds with potential icing, windshear. There is no plausible justification for an aircraft to be exposed to such hazards if it is carrying only crew and no passengers (...)