General Aviation Accident Reduction & Mitigation Symposium SpeakersGaarms

Fred L. Gibbs, 2nd V-P APA, GAARMS Program Director

An Arizona Pilots Association Safety Initiative

The Arizona Pilots Association (APA) is pleased to announce the 1st Annual General Aviation Accident Reduction and Mitigation Symposium – GAARMS - planned for March 14th and 15th, 2012 at the Mesa Public Works/Police Training facility in Mesa, AZ.

The overall goal of GAARMS is to reduce the General Aviation fatal accident rate in the state of Arizona. To accomplish this, the symposium has multiple, related objectives:

• Identify and categorize the general causal factors of those accidents,

• determine which causal factors we, as APA, can impact,

• develop mitigation strategies for those areas, and

• implement pro-active programs in a state-wide effort to reduce the overall accident rate in Arizona by 10% within 2 years of implementation.

The GAARMS will become an annual event sponsored by APA, in conjunction with as many safety and educational entities across the state as are willing and able to participate. Anyone with a vested interest in aviation safety is invited to attend and participate.

On the 1st day of the event, we will have several prominent guest speakers, lead by non other than Bruce Landsberg of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation. Also speaking is Bob Wright of Wright Aviation Solutions LLC, and the chair of the SAFE Symposium held last year in Atlanta, and Jim Anderson of Starr Aviation, right here in the Phoenix area. Here are their short bios.

Bruce Landsberg

Bruce has led AOPA’s safety initiatives more than 18 years. During his tenure, the organization has been nationally recognized with numerous awards for aviation safety leadership and educational program excellence. Now, as the President of the AOPA Foundation and the Air Safety Institute, he is responsible for a broad range of foundation activities to preserve the freedom of flight including safety programs, preserving airports, the image of general aviation and growing the pilot population. Bruce writes the monthly “Safety Pilot” column in AOPA Pilot magazine, as well as a popular weekly blog in AOPA ePilot. He represents general aviation interests with the FAA, NTSB, National Weather Service, collegiate aviation programs and various industry groups. A former U.S. Air Force officer, he holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master's degree in industrial technology from the University of Maryland. Bruce has logged more than 6,000 hours as an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) and holds gold seal flight instructor certificates. He has been an AOPA member for more than 40 years.

Robert A. Wright

Bob is President of Wright Aviation Solutions LLC. Mr. Wright formed his company in 2005 to provide specialized solutions for complex aviation safety, training, and regulatory problems for a variety of clients. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Wright served as Director of Flight Training and later as Director of Regulatory Affairs at Eclipse Aviation. In early 2008, Mr. Wright returned to his consulting practice to pursue innovative safety, training, and regulatory solutions for other clients. Prior to forming Wright Aviation Solutions, Mr. Wright had a distinguished 22 year career with the FAA, retiring in April 2005 as the chief FAA executive for general aviation flight standards. He also served as the FAA executive for developing new flight technologies and procedures and he held a variety of other field and headquarters positions in Flight Standards and in the FAA research and development organization.

Jim Anderson

Jim is the Senior Vice President of Starr Aviation Insurance here in the Phoenix area. Jim began his flying career at the age of 14 when he soloed a glider at Turf Soaring School. He then went on to secure a degree in Aviation Business Administration at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus and also obtained his Flight Instructor Airplane certificate with single engine, multi-engine and instrument ratings which he currently maintains. Jim has worked as a general aviation underwriter for over 20 years and has the privilege of flying his Cirrus SR20 to further the company’s business. Currently Jim volunteers with the National Agricultural Aviation Association, the FAASafety team (Arizona FAAST Rep of the Year 2011), the Arizona Aviation Advisory Group (ASAG) and has served on the Industry Advisory Board for the Business department at ERAU 2007-2009. Jim has given various presentations relating to insurance and general aviation safety at events such as various AOPA trade shows, the Aviation Insurance Association, EAA AirVenture and the National Agricultural Aviation Association annual meeting.

APA is most pleased to have such distinguished speakers for our event!

Safety of flight is not a “spectator sport”. Your participation and support is both necessary and eagerly sought. The accident rate within the state of Arizona is currently unacceptable. And, all of us as stakeholders in aviation must take a proactive role in reducing this statistic. Presentations on the accidents within the state of Arizona are our focus, and from this information we intend to develop objectives, strategies and tactics in an effort to reduce this terrible statistic.

While it may be a cliché, in this case it is very true – If you are not part of the solution, you may well be part of the problem!

The Arizona Pilots Association is pleased to initiate this symposium, and we look forward to your participation. For further information, please contact Fred Gibbs at 928-266-0112 or 410-206-3753, or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also contact us through the Arizona Pilots Association website.

 

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