Flight Test Risk Management
The comprehensive course in professional Flight Test Risk Management. Teaches principles and processes meeting FAA and DoD standards, with essential concepts and skills for aerospace executives, flight test team members, and safety practitioners.
If you think risk management is expensive, try paying for an accident
Risk takes many forms. Of course, this includes human injury and/or product/facility damage. It also includes financial, schedule, mission, compliance, organizational reputation, environmental, and many other areas of concern.
The fundamental perspective of professional flight test is risk management. Flight test is not a zero risk endeavor, nor should it be. Risk can have many dimensions, not just safety. The key is to target the right levels of risk, appropriate to answering the engineering questions. Although there will always be residual risk, the objective is to provide answers within a defined and accepted level of risk.
In this course, you will learn to identify test-specific hazards, with associated causes and effects. Through guided instruction and a student exercise, you will learn how to apply mitigations, reducing probabilities and severities for potential hazards.
This course teaches the concepts and practical application of Flight Test Risk Management as used by:
- Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Aircraft Certification Service
- US Air Force Test Center (including Edwards AFB)
- US Navy – Naval Air Systems Command
- National Air and Space Administration (NASA) Flight Research
The test safety planning process taught by this course is essential not just for risk control during flight test execution, but enables efficient and effective development. Flight Test Risk Management is an essential component of a Safety Management System.
Practical Learning Objectives
Course content applicable to the entire test team
Flight test risk management is the fundamental perspective for professional flight test. This course is useful not just for flight test team members and safety practitioners, but also for accountable executives and program managers.
You will learn:
- Understand the value of flight test risk management
- Identify similarities and differences between flight test risk management and other safety processes
- Recall terminology related to flight test risk management
- Understand differences between Hazards, Causes, and Effects
- Apply the flight test risk management process to create robust test hazard assessments
- Be able to evaluate test hazards and identify related causes and effects
- Be able to apply effective hazard mitigations to preempt causes and reduce effects
- Be able to categorize risk assessments based on probability, severity, and exposure
- Apply flight test risk management principles for effective safety review before test
- Apply flight test risk management products to prevent mishaps during test execution
- Understand how flight test risk management principles are used after unexpected test results
Bonus material
The essential collection of tools and references
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Test Hazard Analysis – Fillable PDF Worksheet
Don’t reinvent the wheel for your risk management process. This form includes fillable fields and instructions for use as a test hazard analysis worksheet.
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Flight Test Risk Management – Vocabulary Reference
All essential terminology with precise definitions and differences between FAA/USAF/USN usage.
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Quick Reference Guides
Printable rubric showing categorized lists of typical tests, arranged by risk category – High / Medium / Low – to aid risk assessment. Also included: standalone guide to create effective risk mitigations.
