You Get What You Pay Attention To – Consider the Astonishing Safety Record of the United States Air Force

(personal note:  be sure to read to the bottom of this post for a “personal” note)

(1935 – re. the Boeing Model 229, the B-17, the “Flying Fortress”) — The test pilots made their list simple, brief, and to the point – short enough to fit on an index card, with step-by-step checks for takeoff, flight, landing, and taxiing.  It had the kind of stuff that all pilots know to do…  With the checklist in hand, the pilots went on to fly the Model 229 a total of 1.8 million miles without one accident.
The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande

I know nothing about flying.  I only know this – if I’m on a plane, I want to walk out on my own two legs at approximately the time I was scheduled to arrive.  But after reading The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, I have a little more appreciation for the job it takes to keep airplanes traveling safely.  So, I read this article with interest: Safety Against the Odds:  Despite its futuristic arsenal and high-stakes missions, the United States Air Force had a safety record in 2009 that approached perfection. The truth is, zero accidents is precisely the goal, by Robert Goyer.  It is from Flying Magazine, apparently the magazine for the industry.

Here are some excerpts:

The e-mail we received here at Flying from “Scroll,” chief of aviation safety at the United States Air Force Safety Center, was a little hard to believe. “Last year (Fiscal Year 2009),” the e-mail read, “was the USAF’s safest year in aviation safety, with 17 Class A Aviation Flight Mishaps for a 0.8 rate per 100,000 flying hours.”

Somehow, the Air Force seems to have hit upon a formula for safety that last year approached perfection.

Just how good a rate is 0.8 per 100,000 flight hours? It’s, in a word, remarkable. The rate compares favorably with the fatal accident rate for general aviation, which is around 1.17 per 100,000 hours. Remember, most of the Air Force’s Class A Mishaps don’t involve fatalities, and many of them don’t involve injuries.

The more pertinent figure from GA, the overall accident rate, in 2008 was 7.1 per 100,000 hours, which is approximately nine times that of the Air Force’s mark. In fact, the Air Force’s safety record for 2009 compared favorably with every segment of civil aviation in the United States (based on 2008 figures) except for the scheduled airlines. Scheduled Part 121 flying, as one would hope, is considerably safer. Then again, the airlines aren’t flying high-speed, low-level training missions through mountainous terrain.

While 2009 was the safest year on record for the Air Force, the trend of safety is not new. Since the early part of the new century, accident rates have been lower, substantially lower, than historic trends have been.

Every Airman a Safety Officer:  I went to Albuquerque to discover the secret of how the Air Force has achieved such a remarkable safety record. I came away understanding that there is no secret. It takes a commitment to safety and all that that implies from the top down.

Every person I met at the Safety Center seemed to believe that safety is a dynamic, ongoing process that requires everyone involved to take an active role in the safety process. And it has worked. The results are quantifiable. While it’s unrealistic to expect that general aviation can cut accidents to the level the Air Force has attained, there’s surely much we can learn, starting with the belief that safety requires hard work, a good look in the mirror and the belief that one person can make a difference. The results of those attitudes have paid off for the Air Force, and its safety success can be measured not only in dollars and cents, but also, and far more importantly, in fewer lives lost.

First, the lesson.  You get what you pay attention to.  The Air Force clearly has a team of people who pay very careful attention, over the long haul, to safety.  It is a life-saving, money-saving focus.  One they have gotten very good at.

Flying's Robert Goyer (far right) is welcomed at the Safety Center by (l-r) Lt. Col./Dr. Karen Heupel, chief of human factors; Maj. Gen. Frederick F. Roggero, chief of safety; and Col. Sid Mayeux, chief of aviation safety.

Now, the personal.  The e-mail to Flying Magazine came from  “Scroll,” the chief of aviation safety at the United States Air Force Safety Center.  When he was just a kid, he went to an air show put on by the Confederate Air Force (flying vintage World War II planes) in Harlingen, Texas.  He announced to his family that he intended to become a pilot.  Well, he did.  He has participated in fast and dangerous missions in conflict zones, and now he has put his focus on safety world-wide.  He is also my brother, Colonel Sid Mayeux.  Congratulations on your safety accomplishments, Sid.

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