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.

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The Air Charter Safety Foundation’s (ACSF) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) drew 1,072 reports from 292 members in the first half of the year, with altitude deviation remaining the most common type of event.&nbsp;As far as event categories, altitude deviation accounted for 16% of the reports, with traffic proximity representing 13%, and coordination/communication issues at 11%.
A combination of altitude, course, and speed deviations collectively comprises 25% of reports, which ACSF said underscores the continued dominance of human factor errors. Airframe issues have contributed to about 7% of reports, and engine/powerplant issues are less than 1%.
During the first six months of the year, ACSF noted a steady month-over-month decline in reporting volume, from 210 submissions in January to 146 in June. However, in tandem, the number of regulatory violations slid from six in January to none in June. In July, there was one.
ACSF cited possible reasons for the decline, such as seasonal effects, with winter weather and holiday traffic driving higher reporting at the beginning of the year. Other possibilities could be improved safety performance, better regulatory compliance, or preventative training. But the organization cautions that it may be as simple as employee participation having dropped.
This scenario could be more likely since report volumes through other venues remain consistently high, with NASA’s ASRS logging an average of 11,000 submissions per month in 2025. “It is important to note that FAA enforcement is an outcome of oversight, not of reporting frequency,” ACSF added.
“Although the downward trend of regulatory violations may look promising, it is paramount for operators to continue their efforts in strengthening the safety culture,” ACSF stressed. “Despite improvements in aviation safety over the years, the uptick in accident numbers in 2024 serves as a reminder for proactive and robust safety programs.”
The safety organization recommends a continued focus on human factors with expanded crew resource management and air traffic control communications training, enhanced simulator scenarios for altitude and traffic conflict recovery, and a review of fatigue management procedures.
In addition, ACSF also encourages auditing general operating manuals and standard operating procedures to ensure low violation rates, sharing event review committee recommendations with employees, implementing corrective actions/tracking events for recurrence, and emphasizing compliance culture.
Also, ACSF highlighted data capture and communications with manufacturers for guidance on common issues.
ASAP is a collaborative safety program under which employees of a participating company may voluntarily report unintentional deviations or safety issues without fear of retribution. ACSF manages an ASAP, working with the FAA and participants to pinpoint trends and recommend corrective actions.

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