The impact of increasing flight data analytics and digitalisation will be a key topic of debate at the World Aviation Safety Summit (WASS) 2019. The event, which is being hosted by the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, is returning to Dubai this year for its seventh edition. Taking place on 09 and 10 December, WASS 2019 will advise how use of data is vital in real-time and how data management has moved from a responsive function into being a core planning and prevention tool – transforming the way safety is approached by airlines and aircraft manufacturers.
Industry leaders will showcase trends on the collection, analysis and sharing of safety data and how this is evolving across the world. They will look at how analysis of millions of data points on board aircraft leads to the successful prevention of incidents and effective management of threats and hazards.
When aircraft health and performance data is sent to on the ground controls in real-time, it makes predictive maintenance easier and turn-arounds faster. This also allows more regular and faster aircraft position reporting, enabling a greater number of planes to fly safely in the same airspace.
An industry example of this is Airbus’ ‘safety process’ which manages all potential identified safety risks on more than 10,000 commercial aircraft. This process is now reinforced to include use of digitalisation technologies, enabling a big-data approach to monitoring and analysis of aircraft safety.
Khalid Al Arif- Executive Director -Aviation Safety & Environment Sector at Dubai Civil Aviation Authority said: "The World Aviation Safety Summit provides our industry with an opportunity to learn about the latest advances in digitalistion, big data and predictive safety. These technologies are advancing rapidly and it’s important that we understand how they can be used to ensure improved safety with the sector. We are looking forward to welcoming global experts from across different markets for the seventh edition of the Summit.”
The latest International Air Transport Association (IATA) statistics show the accident rate in 2018 was lower than the previous five-year period. Despite an increase in accidents compared with 2017, which was an extraordinary year by industry standards, IATA statistics show continued long-term safety improvements in the commercial aviation industry.
The 2018 Airline Safety Performance registered the all accident rate (measured in accidents per 1 million flights) at 1.35, equal to one accident for every 740,000 flights.
Nicholas Webb, Managing Director, at Streamline Marketing Group, the event organisers, commented: "Whilst aviation remains the safest form of long distance travel, improvements across the sector still need to be made. It is evident that advances in technology and how data is used is having a profound impact on the way threats are being detected. As such it’s vital that the industry gathers to learn about these trends, shares best practice and showcases case studies of innovation and progress in safety.”
The Summit brings together local and international stakeholders and provides them with a platform to review and examine the implementation of cutting-edge aviation safety procedures and future-proof regulatory frameworks. Attendees and participants include officials from regulatory authorities, airline operators, airport operators, aircraft manufacturers, pilot associations, safety organizations and air traffic control service providers.