Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt believes his agency will increasingly turn to data use for its safety activities but he does not expect it will have a role in monitoring individual operator’s data in real-time.

 


“We are trying to get more savvy on [data],” said Sumwalt during last week's NATA Aviation Leadership Conference. “We have not been out there mining data in the past. We are going to be postured to mine data more to look for trends.” He noted other organizations are already engaged in such activity, such as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute, which examines trends for data and reports those findings in its Joseph T. Nall report.

 


He also believes access to data from flight data monitoring equipment is “very valuable” to the agency’s investigations, adding he is a strong proponent of flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) programs.

 


Having said that, Sumwalt added the NTSB will not mine for real-time data. “That is not what our congressional mandate is. That is not going to be a function of NTSB,” he said. “But from personal experience, I think data should be mined and monitored in-house.” He added that data-sharing programs such as ASIAS are helpful, but it is not the role of government to look at an individual operator’s data.

 


Sumwalt also last week reported improving aviation safety statistics overall, with the number of accidents in 2017 down by 19 to 1,316 and the number of fatalities declining from 412 in 2016 to 350 last year. Air taxis were in involved in 43 accidents, resulting in 15 fatalities.

 


Reiterating the strong safety improvements in Part 121, which resulted in no fatal accidents in a nine-year period until the Southwest Airlines fatal accident on April 17, Sumwalt said concerns still remain for business aviation. Accidents involving professionally flown Part 91 and 135 operations produced 77 fatalities during the same nine-year period.

 


He agreed with remarks presented by NTSB’s Office of Aviation Safety director John DeLisi&nbsp;at the recent Bombardier Safety Standdown that business aviation could benefit in three key areas: safety management systems, flight-data monitoring programs, and mandatory controlled flight into terrain prevention training.

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

Sumwalt Sees Growing Data Role for NTSB

The NTSB is trying to "get more savvy" on data to help improve aviation safety.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

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News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

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News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

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News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

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News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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