COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE 

 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION 

TITLE: THE CAF SAFETY 

MANAGEMENT 

SYSTEM 

 CAF GUIDE #11 

EFFECTIVE DATE: AUGUST 2012 

APPROVAL: PRESIDENT 

 
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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 
CAF OFFICIAL PUBLICATION 

CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AUGUST 2012 

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PUBLICATIONS MANAGEMENT 

1. PURPOSE 

This guide was created to assist Unit Staff Officers and volunteers in 

performing their duties. 

2. Who Should Use this guide? 

 

 This Guide should be used by all current CAF Members and Unit Staff Officers. 

3. Changes: 

 This is your organization. Any CAF Member, Unit Staff Officer or employee may recommend 

changes to any CAF publication. Recommendations may be submitted in any format; however, 

the specific document must be identified by number, title and date. The office of primary 

responsibility will evaluate recommendations within thirty (30) days and the individual or Unit 

will be notified of action taken. 

-------------------------------------- 

No. of Printed Pages - 7 

OPR: Vice President of Safety Maintenance and Operations 

Approved by: President 

Distribution: All Unit Staff Officers, CAF members upon request and 

 Headquarters Staff as required.
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CAF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 

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INTRODUCTION 

The Commemorative Air Force Safety Program was built upon the pillars of Safety Management 

Systems (SMS), before SMS became the standard for aviation safety programs. SMS models 

have matured with significant tools to improve management of risk as an ongoing business 

objective. However, most were created for organizations of significant size with full time 

employees and require a lot of paperwork which provide little benefit in our organization. We are 

operating with common structures and standards of Aviation Safety Management Systems, but 

have not restructured our programs just to make them look like one of the models. This guide is a 

simple explanation of our safety program and how it functions as a safety system. 

HISTORY 

The Commemorative Air Force Safety Program was an activity of several boards and 

committees subordinate to the Board of Directors until 2005 and focused primarily on Flight 

Safety and Operational issues. Early that year, the Board authorized a full time staff position to 

administrate many of the safety and operational programs with oversight and direction from the 

Executive Director, Flight Safety Board and the Operations and Standardization committees 

(Safety Assurance). 

At that time we had regulations for flying and maintaining our airplanes, standardization of pilot 

qualifications and reviews of accidents with follow-on changes to policies when warranted (Risk 

Management). The members of the committees and the Board of Directors published safety 

articles in company periodicals and conducted seminars at semi-annual conferences (Safety 

Promotion). An anonymous safety reporting system was put in place; the Executive Director 

issued a Safety Policy Letter and announced the new Director of Operations and Safety position 

on the staff (Management Commitment and Responsibility). 

The new Director was tasked to evaluate existing programs and compare them with other 

programs in the industry and make recommendations for improvements. The large companies in 

the industry were re-inventing their safety programs to fit the framework of Safety Management 

Systems, which were relatively new adaptations of the Quality Management Systems in the 

safety arena. This move in the industry was further strengthened by the FAA AC 120-92 and 

their desire to align with the ICAO SMS requirements. Many businesses sprang up and exist 

today to “Teach and Sell” SMS programs to aviation operators. 
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Each of these programs has something to call their own, but certain elements are consistent and 

include four pillars as the foundation of their system: 

1. Policy/Management Commitment Responsibilities

2. Risk Management

3. Safety Assurance

4. Safety Promotion/Culture

Our program contained these elements, so there was no need to re-invent our program on paper 

to simply fit a specific framework and label. Instead, the decision was made to spend initial 

energies on executing refinements to our “Pillars” and pull everyone together for a culture shift. 

These efforts contributed to the second longest accident free record in our 50 year history, 

second only to the period at the end of the 1970s. 

Early in 2011 some of our members and units made special contributions to take our safety 

program to the next level. The donations were for the purpose of hiring help to increase focus, 

reenergize and frame our program using current SMS terms and tools when benefit could be 

added. In late 2011 the new position was established and filled: The Director of Operations and 

Chief Pilot. In addition to increased attention on our pilots and their training (the key link in flight 

safety), the new position made it possible for the VP of Operations, Maintenance and Safety to 

work as The VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations (a subtle, but significant realignment of 

duties). In the course of establishing Organizational Key Strategic Initiatives (KSIs) for 2012, 

safety initiatives were interwoven into these special interest items. A significant one was for the 

VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations to repeat the 2005 evaluation of the CAF Safety 

program and consider possible benefits of a formal SMS (i.e. look like and use tools of a SMS 

model). 

EVALUATION OF SMS MODELS/TOOLS 

Although our program contained the elements consistent with SMSs, it was hoped defining our 

safety programs in SMS context and adapting to a model would reduce our risk. Additionally, we 

felt it was expected in the current environment (government and industry). In December of 2011 

we started the process of evaluating different models with the goal of finding one with a 

framework our program would fit within. The focus was taking advantage of benefits provided 

by SMS models/tools with a critical filter to minimize unnecessary paperwork and administration 

(a common SMS principle). 

We made the decision to use materials developed by the FAA and volunteered to enter their SMS 

Pilot Project Program (the FAA program is representative of other sources and programs). The 

FAA offices involved in the support of voluntary/pilot programs are among those who will do 

the rule writing if SMSs become mandatory in the future. This was important for confidence the 

resources expended in our program development would not be wasted and the products would 

slide into compliance when the programs are required. 
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When we started the process of comparing our current program(s) with the FAA model, we 

confirmed our day-to-day management practices covered the bases. The next step was to 

evaluate the tools and follow suggested tasks thru each of the program milestones. This started 

with what is called Gap Analysis and there are two phases, the Preliminary and the Detailed Gap 

Analysis. After many hours of tool modification and circulation among our safety committees 

and working groups, it was unanimous we were heading into a paperwork abyss without a 

discernible reduction in risk. The gap analysis by the committees and working groups was 

suspended. The feedback on this exercise formed the criteria for evaluating the potential of other 

tools in the FAA model and some others. The decision was made the majority of tools would not 

directly reduce our risk when compared to current processes, intuitive as they may be, used by 

our staff, committees and working groups. 

The bottom line was our programs were in line with SMS models, our tools worked for us and 

most of the tools in the models were too administratively burdensome for our organization of 

volunteers and limited staff. However, our programs lacked identity with SMS terms and 

industry focus. This guide is the bridge to explain what we do in the terms of Safety 

Management System Models. 

OUR SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 

It is important to note, when most people talk about safety in our industry, they are talking about 

flight safety. Flying certainly scores the highest in any risk assessment of what we do, but it isn’t 

the only area we have risk. There are significant risks that need Mitigation/Management in each 

area of our operations: 

‐ Flight Safety 

‐ Flight line Safety 

‐ Ground/Industrial Safety 

‐ Explosive Safety 

‐ Annual Midland AIRSHO Safety 

The following summary of our programs is separated by common SMS components and 

elements. The format is simple: under each SMS area is an explanation/listing of our 

management processes (regulations and guidelines) which when combined, are our system. If 

there are different processes for the different areas above, they will all be listed. All of the 

documents are available online at the CAF Member’s site. 

Policy and Objectives 

Management Commitment/Responsibility/Accountabilities 

x President/CEO’s Safety Policy Letter 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

x Safety Office is at the Vice President level, reporting directly to President/CEO 

x Organizational history of management initiatives (see History paragraph above) 
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Appointment of Key Safety Personnel 

x Unit Safety Officers are mandatory 

(Unit manual section 2 member’s site: manuals button) 

x Safety Committees established and members contact information published for all 

areas (Member’s site: Safety Button) 

x Unit Flight Evaluation Boards for Fit-to-Fly determinations 

(Member’s site: Regulations Button- CAFR 60-2) 

Coordination of Emergency Response Planning 

x HQ. Aircraft Accident Response Checklist 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

x HQ Post accident Support Team 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

x AIRSHO Emergency Plan 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

x Aircraft Accident Reporting procedures for pilots 

(Member’s site: Regulations Button- CAFR 60-1) 

Risk Management 

Hazard identification 

x Anonymous Flight Safety/Ground Hazard Reporting program 

(Member’s site: Safety Button- Safety Reporting System) 

x Contact information for VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations published in 

regulations, on the CAF Open Web site, in Flight Safety Newsletters and all 

electronic correspondence 

NOTE: History has shown the direct reporting to the VP is the preferred reporting 

process in the CAF and is very active 

x Contact Information for Safety Committee Members 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

x Aircraft Mishap Report Form 60-3 (currently called Incident Accident Report) 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

x Ground Safety Mishap report 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

Risk Assessment and Mitigation 

x Risk assessment of day to day operations and analysis of reported risk are evaluated 

by the VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations, the CAF Staff and the Safety 

Committees. Mitigations are implemented specifically to the risk, or are incorporated 

into CAF policies and procedures. 

x

Policies and procedures 

x CAF Regulations and Manuals (Member’s site: Regulations and Manuals Buttons) 

CAFR 60-1 Procedures for Flight Operations 
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CAFR 60-2 Procedures for Aircrew Qualifications and Documentation 

CAFR 60-3 Carrying of Passengers for Compensation 

CAFR 66-1 Aircraft Maintenance Policies and Procedures 

x CAF Guides and Specialty Documents (Member’s site: Safety Button) 

 CAF Safety Policy Letter from the President/CEO 

 The Commemorative Air Force Safety Management System Guide 

 The CAF Anonymous Flight Safety/Ground Hazard Reporting 

Safety Guidelines for CAF Pyro Units 

Marshaller’s Training Manual and guides 

 HQ Ground/Industrial Safety Guide 

Safety Assurance 

Performance Monitoring /Measurement and Management of Change for Improvement 

x All reports of hazards/risk/mishaps are evaluated by the VP, briefed to the 

President/CEO and Staff and sent to the appropriate committee if existing 

procedures/policies need review 

x The VP, or a member of the Flight safety Committee are appointed as Parties to 

FAA/NTSB aircraft accident investigations 

x Annual summaries of incidents and accidents are presented at the Wing Staff 

Conference, published in newsletters and analyzed by the committees 

x Special/one of a kind/very low frequency risk are evaluated and mitigated on a case 

by case basis either by staff, or the committees 

x Common/and likely risk are controlled with published procedures which undergo 

review and modification if required, twice a year 

x Special interest items in the interim are emailed to all pilots and unit officers as 

necessary 

Safety Promotion/Culture 

Training and Education 

x We have training requirements for our pilots in the 60 series regulations and both the 

Director of Operations/Chief Pilot and the VP of Safety, Maintenance and Operations 

conduct in unit pilot training 

(Member’s site: Regulations Button) 

x There are training guides and procedure requirements for Explosive Safety (PYRO), 

Flight Line Safety (Marshallers) and Industrial/Ground Safety 

(Member’s site: Safety Button) 

Communication 

x The President/CEO publishes an Organizational Safety Policy letter 

x Monthly Newsletters are published for Operations, Maintenance and Safety 

x Safety and policy news and updates are published in the bi-weekly “On the Fly” 

newsletter and in the monthly National Publication “Dispatch” 

End of Guide