Wednesday Edition: BASS 2026

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is changing its approach to safety management by working to integrate data and analysis across its different “lines of business” to create a more holistic risk picture in an increasingly complex National Airspace System (NAS), according to Jodi Baker, deputy associate administrator for aviation safety management at FAA. A holistic approach will aid in the early detection of potential risks and trends, enabling more effective mitigation strategies.

In a fireside chat with Foundation President and CEO Dr. Hassan Shahidi on Wednesday, Baker said the legacy safety management approach is too dispersed with siloed data sources and analysis tools that do not communicate effectively. The idea behind the new Aviation Safety Management office is to drive collaboration and integrated safety analysis and to create a common safety matrix. She referenced James Reason’s Swiss cheese model and said, “We need to have a better picture of all the things that are happening” rather than just identifying each segment’s “holes in the cheese.”

GNSS/GPS jamming and spoofing, typically associated with proximity to military activity, is starting to become a problem beyond conflict zones, according to Simon Innocent, senior director, Commercial Navigation Systems, Honeywell Aerospace.

Innocent said during a 30-minute flash talk presentation with colleague Thea Feyereisen, distinguished technical fellow, Human Factors, Honeywell Aerospace, that there has been a massive increase in GNSS spoofing and jamming attacks since mid-2023, that the attacks are increasing in sophistication, and that they are becoming more targeted, including against individual aircraft.

Feyereisen said the increasing number of events experienced by corporate operators impact pilot workload and operational efficiency and can also have safety impacts.

The rate and number of lithium battery–related thermal events are increasing in frequency and complexity across the commercial and business aviation environments, BASS speakers said during a panel discussion Wednesday.

Lithium battery thermal runaway events involve extreme heat, toxic off-gassing, and the threat of re-ignition. When they occur in the cockpit, such as when an electronic flight bag device goes into thermal runaway, it can result in the loss of visibility for the pilots. Nate Klatt, CEO of KlattWorks, said he thinks that smoke in the cockpit events are underreported.

David Wroth, senior director, Technology & Operations, UL Standards & Engagement, said there has been a “meaningful increase” in the number of incidents involving power banks, and that power banks have overtaken e-cigarette/vape devices as the most common type of device involved. While many events are handled without incidents, more than 10 percent result in some sort of operational disruption, including in-flight diversion, a return to gate, unplanned deplaning, or an aircraft evacuation.

Jim Zanino, head of sales at VisionSafe, said smoke events are highly stressful situations for pilots and that it’s important for pilots to train on how to handle them. “If you’ve never done smoke training in a simulator session, I would encourage you to do it,” he said.

Wroth suggested that the industry needs to change the way it talks about lithium batteries with passengers. He said most passengers don’t understand that their devices are powered by potentially dangerous lithium batteries, so talking to them about watt-hours is not effective. In an airline online check-in process, lithium batteries are grouped with firearms and explosives. He said it would be easier for passengers to understand if the explanations centered on rechargeable devices.

Business aviation doesn’t face a knowledge gap –— there is a great deal of data available –— but an execution gap exists, according to panelists discussing advancing safety from policy to practice.

Mark Larsen, director of safety and flight operations, NBAA, said that while the number of accidents is down in the past few years, business aviation is still seeing a lot of runway excursions and abnormal runway contact events, as well as system component failure-powerplant, and low-altitude events in instrument meteorological conditions.

What we see is an execution gap, said Steve Berry, vice president, education and safety, at NATA. “We have more data and dashboards than ever,” but the industry is still seeing the same types of accidents, he said. Data should be used to power outcomes and training behaviors, not just dashboards, he added.

Capt. Michael Hoyt of Chubb Flight Operations, and his wife, Dr. Alison Hoyt, a clinical psychologist, together founded Ascent Performance. Dr Hoyt is also clinical director of the organization. They have developed a model for communications that basically entails recognizing what factors (fatigue, stress) may drive the way you respond, and then repair any damage before it can have longer-term impact.

They outlined four basic steps:

Check the story; catch the assumption before it drives behavior.
Take a pause or self-regulate before reacting.
Clearly and assertively communicate your needs.
Reset the moment by restoring alignment and trust.

In a wide-ranging discussion on runway safety risk, the panelists agreed that the risk is increasing, but that it’s not random. It is driven by identifiable and repeatable failure modes.

Technology can help in many cases, but not always. Capt. William Parham, chief pilot, MP Air, said, “I love the technology, but there’s a point of over-saturation.

Factors that impact runway safety include the complexity of the airport, fatigue, and familiarity with the airport, according to Thea Feyereisen, distinguished technical fellow, Human Factors, Honeywell Aerospace. To that list, Parham added the complexity of the taxi situation and getting five instructions at a time from air traffic control.

Bridget Singratanakul, runway safety representative, NATCA, urged pilots to let air traffic control know if they need more time for tasks such as reconfiguring a flight management system.

Jon Damush, CEO, UAvionix Corporation, said that individuals react differently to increased cognitive load. Some freeze up, while others may try to act more quickly. He said it’s important to introduce technology that increases situational awareness but doesn’t add to the cognitive load.

It was also agreed that runway safety is a systemic issue, not just a pilot problem or an ATC issue and that there needs to be a balance between human factors, airport design, and technology integration.

The NBAA Safety Committee has released a survey on pilot responses to Terrain Awareness Warning System (TAWS) alerts and is requesting business aviation pilots participate.

The survey is short, anonymous and takes less than 3 minutes to complete. The specific focus is pilot response to cautions and warnings along with confidence in the system to protect you, your aircraft and any other occupants. Given the wide variety of backgrounds of business aviation pilots, your participation would provide great insights.

If you have a few moments and feel inclined to give back to the community, this is an easy way to help.