The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the French Directorate for Civil Aviation Safety (DSAC) to share data in an effort the association hopes will demonstrate the value of the IS-BAO. One of the ultimate goals of the “experiment” would be to enable EU ramp inspectors to focus on operators that do not have a recognized safety management system, IBAC said. SMS is at the core of the IS-BAO standard.
The signing marked a step forward in the joint trial, clearing the way for IBAC to provide information on participating operators to DSAC. Then DSAC will be able to compare this data with its own and assess the value of IS-BAO Stage 2 and 3 audits.
In return, DSAC will provide IBAC with aggregated, de-identified data based on the results of the ramp checks. This information would enable IBAC to better identify trends that could be addressed with the business aviation community, it said.
IBAC noted that a number of business aircraft operators had already volunteered to participate in the demonstration project before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are very grateful for all your inputs. For the first time, IBAC could connect hundreds of aircraft registrations with dozens of air operators from several continents,” said Daniel Devraignes, IBAC audit manager/acting IS-BAO program director, in a recent update to operators.
However, IBAC was not able to share any collected data with DSAC until the memorandums were signed. “With the return to operations progressing well, the project with DSAC can finally enter the next phase,” Devraignes said.
IBAC is moving forward on the data collection and encouraged operators to ensure their information is up to date. It also hopes to continue to expand the number of operators participating in the trial.