Story ID: 210132014safety
Safety Standdown Focused on Distraction Issues
By: AIN Staff
Caption: Standdown banquet energized by guest speaker John Travolta.
Word Count: 220
This year, Bombardier’s Safety Standdown took a themed approach focused on attention and distraction issues through a series of 32 different seminars. The agenda included the following topics: Attention Control Techniques; After the Scene of the Accident: Causal Distractions; Technology in the Cockpit; Managing Human Fatigue to Enhance Safety; and Loss of Control In Flight: Attention Empowers Prevention.

Speakers came from the National Transportation Safety Board, Aviation Performance Solutions, Convergent Performance, the FAA, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and other organizations.

This year, Edward Coleman, an aviation advisor at BP Global Aviation Services, was given the annual Eugene Cernan Safety Award.

The final night banquet concluded with a one-on-one interview with film actor and pilot John Travolta, who flew to Wichita especially for the evening’s festivities. Travolta spoke about his longstanding love for professional aviation, as well as his commitment to the never-ending need to improve aviation safety. Travolta, who owns a Bombardier Challenger 601 and a Boeing 707, is type rated in nine different aircraft.

The 18th Safety Standdown, held last week in Wichita, drew 450 people, with another 100 participating online via the live webinar option. Bombardier offers the four-day event free of registration charges to pilots, mechanics and flight attendants. Standdown attendees include professionals from business aviation, the military and the airlines.