Bombardier kicked off its 23rd annual Safety Standdown this morning for the first time in Fort Worth, Texas, drawing a crowd of more than 500 and maintaining a focus on this year’s theme: "Elevate Your Standards." The location marked a departure from the decades Bombardier has hosted the event in Wichita, but Bombardier demo pilot and Safety Standdown host Franco Pietracupa opened the three-day event informing attendees that “you are in the record books” by filling all available slots within eight days of the opening of registration this past August.
The event built a waitlist of 168 and is anticipated to draw at least twice the attendees on the webcast. Last year the webcast drew 1,300 views from 17 countries, and Pietracupa said he is looking to draw an audience from 20 countries this year.
While the event has a new locale, there still are a number of familiar faces, including perennial favorites retired USAF Lt. Col. Tony Kern of Convergent Performance and Dan Boedigheimer of Advanced Aircrew Academy. Kern, who said he was speaking at his 22nd Safety Standdown, once again turned to a persona to emphasize safety, this year becoming “TK Thrilla” with a rap to celebrate safety standdown. He drove home the point of pushing personal standards beyond the organizational or regulatory standard through professionalism and making a commitment, rather than intent, to execute the improvement.
Also opening Safety Standdown was Tim Miller, director of Office of Air Carrier Safety Assurance for the FAA, who highlighted how the increase in transparency between the agency and industry was elevating standards. NBAA COO Steve Brown called Safety Standdown a “must-attend event,” and discussed key safety focus areas for the industry, saying it needs to redouble efforts because one accident is too many.
Benoit Rocheleau, CAE's head of operations for business aviation, helicopter, and maintenance training, underscored the importance of sharing knowledge through events such as Safety Standdown, especially given the anticipated expansion of the pilot population. Boedigheimer, meanwhile, was on the slate with a theme that matched Bombardier Safety Standdown’s mantra: "Learn, Apply, Share."
