New FAA SAFO Warns of Visual Safety Risks
- Shashwat Dwivedi
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued its first safety alert for operators (SAFOs) for the year, (SAFO 25001). This newly issued safety alert discusses several high-profile and high-visibility events that have occurred in the National Airspace System (NAS) in recent months. Regulators insist that the severity of these events is a serious cause of concern.
The agency in the alert went on to discuss the events: “As the NAS continues to grow in use and complexity, efforts have been ongoing to prevent unsafe operations such as runway incursions, unstable approaches, altitude and route deviations, and runway identification errors,” the agency said. “In light of recent events, the FAA identified the need to ensure all operators and pilots understand and evaluate the risks associated with the acceptance and execution of visual approaches.”
The SAFO applies to all airlines and operators flying under the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 121 (commercial scheduled airlines) and part 135 (charter airlines) rules. It is interesting to note that the FAA maintains that the actions are recommendations and not binding.
The FAA issues SAFOs to highlight safety issues, usually to warn of a specific issue that has surfaced, such as suspected unapproved parts, GPS disruptions, or equipment anomalies.
The recent SAFO by the FAA discusses effective communication between the ATC and the pilot. It also firmly backs the authority of the captain on board to decline to fly if he feels that the safety margins are reduced when the ATC gave clearance.
The SAFO by FAA also has some recommendations for directors of operations, chief pilots, directors of training, check pilots, directors of safety, pilots, and other operational personnel to make sure that any necessary steps are taken to ensure operations with no compromise of flight safety.
