We regularly read interesting articles from all kinds of sources. We list them below:

December 2015

• “To the rescue: Can lithium batteries be made safe for flight?” (Air Cargo World). The article looks into the possibility of imposing a ban on the transportation of lithium batteries and the impacts it would have on manufacturers and operators; and tries to identify a solution to it.
• “Fatigue Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs): A Key Component of Proactive Fatigue Hazard Identification” (ICAO): SPIs are used to identify fatigue hazards in the operation for risk assessment, mitigation and monitoring of fatigue. This paper reviews a number of them to assist carriers in developing processes and procedures to monitor the effectiveness of fatiguemanagement approaches.
• Psychological assessment of pilots:
  • “Difficult Diagnosis” (Aero Safety World): Although the article dates back from 2012, the recent events make it quite relevant to try and understand the difficulties of correctly assessing pilots’ mental health.
  • “Failing Aviator” (Aero Safety World): the article looks into “fitness for duty” programmes and their efficiency for appropriate and timely reaction.