Dave Fleet Consulting LLC Page 1 September 2010

 Safety Management System Implementation 

MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT

STUDY Safety Management System 

 FAA Implementation Study 

MONTH September 2010 

SEPTEMBER STATUS 

This monthly report provides a summary of the status and an explanation of any 

difficulties or successes in the Safety Management System (SMS) Implementation 

Study (Implementation Study) at the South Bend Regional Airport (SBN) with a specific 

focus on the tasks listed in the FAA Participant’s Guide. Any recommended changes to 

the SBN SMS Manual and any findings made or items developed during this 

Implementation Study are included. 

SUMMARY 

The kick-off meeting (Meeting 1) for the Implementation Study was conducted on 

Friday, September 10th, 2010 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Members of the 

Implementation Team who were in attendance were: 

• John Schalliol, Executive Director, St. Joseph County Airport Authority 

• Bruce MacLachlan, Manager Operations and Maintenance, St. Joseph County 

Airport Authority 

• Mike Guljas, Director Administration, St. Joseph County Airport Authority 

• Dave Fleet, Dave Fleet Consulting LLC (Consultant) 

• Joanne Landry, Landry Consultants LLC (conference call) 

During the kick-off meeting, the follow items were discussed: 

Agenda Items 

• Study Plan review 

o Approval and FAA communication 

• Determine 3rd SRA topic 

• Identify who in the organization will be tasked with collateral duties of 

safety manager 

• Discuss staff participation 

• Discuss budget and time table communications 

• Discuss monthly report expectations 
 

Dave Fleet Consulting LLC Page 2 September 2010

 Safety Management System Implementation 

Difficulties

Activation of the Omni Air Group Incident Reporter (OAGIR) software appears to 

present a challenge. The software, two servers, and one laptop were purchased last 

year and installed in October of 2009. The servers are part of the St. Joseph County 

Airport Authority’s (SJCAA) intranet system. The SJCAA staff did not activate or put the 

software into service and as a result became unfamiliar with it, including the 

application’s location on the intranet. The SJCAA staff has since changed some 

responsibilities internally and no longer has an Information Technology (IT) person on 

staff. The IT function and support has been contracted out to Pinnacle who is based in 

South Bend, IN. 

The members of the Implementation Team discussed how to quickly identify the 

hardware and software and the initial steps moving forward. Within the first two weeks 

of the study start, confirmation was made as to the status of the hardware and software; 

then rollout plans will be made in October. Representatives from Pinnacle assisted. 

The task of identifying a member of the airport operations team to take the collateral 

duties of the safety manager needs to be completed. The Implementation Team 

discussed this issue and the SJCAA staff has not identified someone yet. The 

Implementation Team believes this is very important for a successful SMS 

Implementation. SJCAA is not a large organization and many of the staff members 

already have multiple duties and responsibilities. Identification of a specific person will 

be accomplished by the next meeting to be scheduled in October. 

Successes

The Consultant held a conference call with Mike Guljas (SJCAA) and Ed Russell 

(Pinnacle) to discuss the OAGIR. Documentation for the hardware and software was 

provided and included the user’s guide for the software. After a general discussion took 

place Ed Russell was able to locate the servers and software. He will be in contact with 

representatives from OAG as well as the team who completed the physical installation. 

Software activation and rollout to the SJCAA population will be discussed in detail in 

October and accomplished as soon as practical. 

The Implementation Team discussed the Study Plan in detail and agreed on some 

minor edits that were made. The Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) topics were discussed; 

a third topic needed to be chosen. The SJCAA staff decided to conduct an SRA on 

commercial ramp snow removal operations following this upcoming winter. The SJCAA 

is in the second phase of a three phase concourse build out that will impact commercial 

ramp operations and snow removal. Therefore, it was agreed that this topic is pertinent. 

The other two SRA topics are: 

• Hosting major events in the City of South Bend, such as a Notre Dame Football 

game which brings several transient (perhaps over 200) general aviation aircraft 

to SBN. 
 

Dave Fleet Consulting LLC Page 3 September 2010

 Safety Management System Implementation 

• The operation of the general aviation ramp located in front of the FBO between 

the primary runway and parallel taxiway. 

The Study Plan was updated and returned to the SJCAA staff for a final review. It was 

approved and transmitted to FAA Headquarters and FAA Chicago Airport District Office 

(ADO) on September 17th. 

Recommended Changes to SMS Program Manual

None were made or discussed in September. 

Findings

No significant findings were made in September. 

NEXT MEETING 

October 6, 2010. 

South Bend Regional Airport 

Note: the first quarterly meeting is scheduled for December 16, 2010.