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Safety Policy
Accountability, resources, protected reporting, ethics, emergency coordination, and risk acceptance authority.
Aviation Safety Management Systems
Understand SMS. Build a stronger safety culture.
A Safety Management System (SMS) is an organized approach to identifying hazards, managing risk, monitoring performance, and improving over time. For UAS, advanced air mobility, and aviation organizations, SMS connects people, procedures, technology, and decision-making.
Requirements vary by organization and operation. Explore the framework, then discuss your specific needs.
ReportHazards and events
ManageRisk and controls
AssurePerformance and improvement
Part 107Current operating rule for small UAS, with waivers and other approvals where applicable.
Part 108Future-facing BVLOS framework. EFVS treats proposed provisions as planning inputs until finalized.
AAM and UTMIntegrated safety across aircraft, operators, airspace services, infrastructure, and workforce.
40+years of aviation experience
32+years in FAA Flight Standards
System-wideoperations, infrastructure, workforce and digital interfaces
SMS fundamentals
What is a Safety Management System?
SMS provides a repeatable way to make safety decisions. Leadership sets policy and accountability. Teams identify hazards and assess risk before and during operations. Reports, audits, and performance measures show whether controls are working.
An SMS is more than a manual or software platform. It becomes useful when its processes are understood, practiced, documented, and improved as operations change.
Explore the four SMS components →What an SMS helps you do
- See the full operationMap aircraft, people, procedures, facilities, suppliers, airspace services, and their interfaces.
- Make risk decisionsIdentify hazards, assign controls and owners, and record who accepts residual risk.
- Learn and adaptUse reporting, assurance, training, and management review to improve performance.
From principle to practice
How SMS works day to day.
Each organization scales its processes to its operations, risk, and applicable requirements.
- 01 — DefineSet safety policy, responsibilities, objectives, and the boundaries of the operation.
- 02 — AssessIdentify hazards, evaluate risk, choose controls, and document decisions.
- 03 — MonitorCollect reports and performance evidence to see whether the controls work.
- 04 — ImproveTrain people, review changes, correct problems, and update the system.
One connected framework
Four SMS components. One operational system.
Policy establishes authority. Risk management identifies and controls hazards. Assurance verifies performance. Promotion gives people the competency and information to act.
02
Safety Risk Management
System analysis, hazard identification, risk assessment, controls, residual risk, and interface notification.
03
Safety Assurance
Operational monitoring, confidential reporting, audits, investigations, performance review, and continuous improvement.
04
Safety Promotion
Role-based competency, safety communication, reporting feedback, and organizational learning.
Focused solutions
UAS and AAM require more than a conventional flight-safety template.
UAS
Part 107 and complex operations
Mission risk, BVLOS readiness, command and control, detect-and-avoid interfaces, Remote ID, public risk, batteries, and contractor oversight.
Future Rule
Part 108 readiness
Gap analysis against proposed permits, certificates, operational roles, automated data service providers, records, security, and SMS expectations.
AAM
Powered-lift and ecosystem safety
Certification and operations interfaces, vertiports, charging, emergency response, maintenance, mixed-use airspace, and workforce competency.
UTM
Cooperative traffic management
Data service performance, strategic coordination, conformance monitoring, contingency management, cybersecurity, and FAA interfaces.
Interactive risk screen
Make the decision traceable.
A five-by-five score promotes consistency, but it does not replace judgment. Consider exposure, uncertainty, control independence, common-cause failures, and the operating environment.
Risk estimator
Explore the EFVS and AerospaceSMS collaboration.
Learn how EFVS contributes aviation ecosystem expertise and how AerospaceSMS independently provides its platform and SMS services.