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Flight Safety Officer - Federal Government

A flight safety officer with the federal government must be or must have been a pilot either in the military or must have completed a civilian based pilot training program. In addition the flight safety officer must have extensive flight experience, with most flight safety officers having 10 or more years of flying experience professionally. The flight safety officer then completes numerous trainings including flight safety, management, emergency response, and flight mishap training that teaches investigators how to look for evidence at the scene of an aircraft accident.

The flight safety officers in the federal government work with various agencies to provide flight safety training to professionals and pilots that fly planes. This may include safety checks of the plane, understanding federal aviation laws and correctly following them through to the various security procedures that must be followed on every flight. Often the flight safety officers complete this training in teams, so an ability to work in a team environment coupled with teaching and communication skills is very important.

Flight safety officers must also respond if there is a mishap with an aircraft. This can be a non-fatal accident that is relatively minor through to large aircraft accidents with multiple fatalities. The flight safety officers are specially trained to be observant at the scene and to look for specific items that can be used to determine the cause of the accident. They then use this information to support various changes that can be used to prevent the same thing from occurring again.

Common work activities include:

• Attending trainings and information sessions to constantly keep informed on changes in aviation laws and regulations.
• Researching various aviation based events, studying security protocol in other areas and recommending changes to improve the system.
• Training other pilots regarding all aspects of flight safety.
• Responding to reports of aircraft accidents wherever they may occur.
• Gathering evidence at serious or minor aircraft accidents to be used to determine the source of the accident or malfunction.
• Investigating, researching and collaborating with other investigators to report on all issues around the mishap with regards to the plane.
• Making recommendations for change that will prevent any further loss of life or accidents due to the problem condition.

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