16.3.1 Basic Principles
An SRA should be conducted any time the airport determines that a full safety analysis of an airport condition or event is warranted. Three rules of thumb can help in the determination:
• A change in the airport system is pending.
• The allocation of significant airport resources is required.
• An undesirable trend in airport safety metrics is revealed.
In each of these instances, airport management will face decisions regarding operations and assets that will alter the way the airport does business. With change comes potential risk. The SRA is the most complete method to ensure risk is managed as effectively as possible.
The rules of thumb are not all inclusive. Any issue that affects aviation safety can be the subject of an SRA. The following questions can be asked when considering the need for a panel:
• Will the FAA require an SRA for a planned change/project?
• Do we have an important safety issue that we have not been able to resolve?
• Do we have undesirable trends in our safety performance indicators and we cannot explain why?
• Was an incident reported at another airport with causes similar to conditions at our airport?
• Are incidents or reported hazards on the rise?
• Does a type of incident occur frequently at the airport?
• Is a safety issue affecting the airport’s reputation?
• Is there an important safety issue on the landside of the airport?
• Have we received frequent complaints from our stakeholders about a certain safety issue at the airport?
• Is an important decision pending that has safety implications?