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T U E S D AY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 7 N AT C A D A I LY D I S PAT C H 5 Keynote Address Preview: Christopher A. Hart, NTSB Christopher A. Hart Board Member, NTSB Today, we are honored to welcome Christopher A. Hart to the Communicating For Safety stage. Hart led the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as its Chairman through the safest period in U.S. aviation history. Hart's two-year appointment as Chairman expired on March 15, 2017. He continues to serve as a Member of the Board. He became a Member of the Board in August 2009, and was subsequently designated Vice Chairman by President Barack Obama. Hart was nominated for a second term as Board Member in August 2013, and his nomination for a third term as Vice Chairman was confirmed by the Senate in October 2013. He served as Acting Chairman from April 26, 2014, until he was appointed as Chairman. From 1973 until 1990, Hart held a series of legal positions, mostly in the private sector. He joined the Board for the first time in 1990 and served until 1993. From 1993 until 1995, he was Deputy Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, then went on to serve as Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Assistant Administrator for System Safety and FAA Deputy Director for Air Traffic Safety Oversight before returning to the Board in 2009. Hart's family has a tradition of accomplishment in transportation. In 1926, his great uncle, James Herman Banning, was the first African-American to receive a pilot's license issued by the US government. Hart is a self-described "airplane addict." "My mother told me that the first thing she ever saw me draw was an airplane," said Hart during a speech last month in Houston. "I have always loved airplanes. That's why I have a master's degree in aerospace engineering, and that's why I'm a pilot. After obtaining my master's degree I went to law school, and I have been fortunate ever since that most of the positions I have worked in have drawn from both my engineering background and my legal background." The NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates accidents in all modes of transportation to determine what caused them and to make recommendations to prevent them from happening again. "We are not a regulator," Hart said. "Instead, our primary product is recommendations, and we send them to any entity that can improve safety. Our world- class investigators and analysts don't like to give up until they have the answer, and the recommendations that they create are so compelling that the recipients respond favorably more than 80 percent of the time, even though they are not required to." Collaboration is always better than confrontation. Monday's "Improving Safety Through Collaboration" panelists agree with that statement, with one caveat: "Because we're people, we're going to have conflict," said Cliff Rustad, Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Organization (ATO) ATSAP-X Event Review Committee member. "But you need to work on your relationships to overcome that conflict. Let's be honest. If you haven't worked with your group to handle conflict, you're going to have confrontation." NATCA San Francisco (SFO) FacRep Fred Naujoks and SFO ATO Support Manager Dawn Cawrse credited collaboration and work with their local safety council (LSC) to ensure a successful move to the new SFO tower, which opened last year. "Collaboration isn't always easy, but when it comes to safety, our goals are the same," Naujoks said. "Collaboration is part of our culture now." ATO Human Performance Manager Jason Demagalski said the FAA and NATCA may not always agree on the route to get to a goal, "but we know what we're trying to achieve." NATCA Safety Committee (NSC) member and Human Performance Rep Jay Barrett said the FAA does human factors research, thanks to collaboration. "From the very beginning, Jason and I have had a commitment to bring that to the operation and the employees on the floor," he said. "That requires a lot of trust and cooperation to get there." Potomac TRACON (PCT) FacRep Brandon Miller credited the strong relationship he enjoys with PCT Manager Stephen Smith with effectively handling everything from labor- management relations to safety issues. "If we didn't have a strong relationship, there could easily be a ball dropped," he said. "We're definitely moving Potomac forward." NSC member and Partnership for Safety Rep Chrissy Padgett said a commitment to listening is the most important factor in collaboration. She also credited local safety councils with fueling the collaborative process. "If someone contacts us, that's usually the first question: we don't know how to get started," Padgett said. "That's when we give them the scoping document so they can define their goals. Maybe we'll put them in contact with the LSC at PCT or SFO that is doing well and they can share their scoping document." Panelists agreed that collaboration has reached a level of maturity that makes it sustainable and the way to do business. As moderator Phil Hughes put it, collaboration has hit its "sweet spot." "We own this," Smith said. "You can make the difference and hold onto collaboration. It doesn't matter what administration comes at you." PANEL RECAP | Improving Safety Through Collaboration Yesterday, a panel of distinguished experts gave their perspectives on the challenges of implementing multiple new technologies and procedures in the National Airspace System (NAS). NATCA and industry stakeholders along with the Federal Aviation Administration have delivered $2.7 billion in benefits to date, with the Agency now being on or ahead of schedule with some of the most critical programs. What's their secret? Collaboration. NATCA Director of Safety and Technology Jim Ullmann and FAA Vice President of the Program Management Organization (PMO) Kris Burnham moderated the panel. They were joined by NATCA Deputy Director of Safety and Technology Mark McKelligan, ATO PBN Programs and Policy Group Manager Donna Creasap, PhD, NATCA Training Rep Tom Adcock, ATO Director of Technical Training Abi Smith, NATCA PMO Rep Jeff Woods, ATO En Route and Oceanic Second Level Engineering Group Manager Steve Reynolds, NATCA National Safety Committee Chairman Steve Hansen, FAA Vice President of Safety and Technical Training Terry Biggio, NATCA Region X Vice President Mike MacDonald, and FAA Vice President of Technical Operations Vaughn Turner. Panelists in this session discussed the importance of collaboration, adding to points made during the earlier panel, Improving Safety Through Collaboration. They elaborated on exactly what collaboration looks like when developing, deploying, and implementing new technology. Data Comm was a prime example introduced during the discussion. After several setbacks, and once collaborative practices were introduced, Phase 1 of Data Comm came in ahead of schedule and on budget. Ullmann explained that collaboration is especially important when implementing NextGen technology because of how many different programs affect one another. Panelists agreed that the first step towards collaborating was communicating and listening to each other. This lays a foundation of trust and respect. Often, all sides of the equation will want the same thing. As Hansen pointed out, however, they may disagree about how to get there. That's when communication becomes even more important. Woods explained that everyone on the panel has prioritized regular meetings when discussing NextGen technology. He said it's about identifying how to safely develop, implement, and train on multiple moving parts all at once. This can be challenging when there are many different opinions on how best to get to that shared end goal. All agreed, however, that collaboration is the right way to do things. As NextGen continues to roll out NATCA, the FAA, and all industry stakeholders will have to continue to address extremely complex issues. Having a strategic approach to collaborating is essential to the success of those programs and the success of the NAS. Check back in the NATCA Insider for in-depth coverage on collaboration on NextGen programs. PANEL RECAP | NextGen Implementation Challenges and Successes Jim Ullmann Kris Burnham

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