Garmin has made enhancements for its FltPlan safety management system (SMS) with updates to the Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) and a completely new safety performance dashboard. The redesigned FRAT requires less input from pilots and now includes the ability for operators to customise FRATs for different pilots and aircraft. The new reporting dashboard allows operators to more easily monitor safety performance indicators (SPI) and other safety trends with the ability to tailor the data to the specific needs of their company.

Flight risk assessment submissions have been simplified to allow pilots to quickly complete a FRAT before a flight. The FRAT can automatically ingest data regarding a flight, including weather, terrain and runway conditions, and combine it with pilot fitness questions. The flight risk score is presented after submission and, if applicable, risk mitigation strategies are presented to the pilot. Flights are automatically re-scored one hour before departure and pilots are alerted if there is a change in factors that could negatively affect the flight's risk such as wind or weather. Individual operators can define how often FRATs are re-scored.

For pilots not filing flight plans with FltPlan.com, the new quick flight option allows users to enter basic flight details and submit a flight risk assessment. The FRAT is mobile optimised for convenient submission via smartphones or tablets.

Additionally, the FRAT includes an enhanced rules engine for better customisation. Flight departments can now create custom rules to apply specific flight risk questions based on pilot profiles, aircraft profiles, weather conditions, airport conditions and more. Profiles and rules can be tied together to create higher level rules. For example, a low-time pilot flying a specific airplane type can have pre-assigned risks populated into the FRAT.

To help flight departments identify areas where they may need to improve safety, FltPlan SMS now features a safety performance dashboard that allows operators to view reports to assess the effectiveness of their safety programme. The dashboard includes pre-configured reports designed by SMS experts, but also allows flight departments to modify or create custom reports to best fit their needs. The predesigned reports will enable flight departments to easily view safety performance without building reports of their own.

Reporting can be grouped by risk level, report type, category etc, and reporting dashboards specific to different departments of an operation can be created and customised. For example, one reporting dashboard can be set for flight department management while a second dashboard can be designed for company leadership. All reports can be exported to Microsoft Excel or printed for additional analysis.

For participating flight departments, employees can file an Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) report directly from FltPlan SMS. Operators have the option to self-manage with an internal Event Review Committee team, or departments can have the Air Charter Safety Foundation act as a third party reviewer.