Our presentation was from Keith Cianfrani who gave a classification speech on his career.

 

Keith retired from the Army in 2005 where he flew helicopters and airplanes. While in the Army he worked in Safety and Risk Management. In this role he looked into the causes of soldiers deaths.  In many cases the cause was lack of discipline and poor leadership. Keith's mantra is to Identify the hazard, Rate the hazard, and Mitigate the hazard. The Key is to be aware and pay attention. Many accidents are preventable, especially when someone with experience is around.

 

After retiring from the Army, Keith flew for Channel 6 and Amtrak before working as a Junior ROTC instructor in the Philadelphia school system. Since retiring form the Army, he has also operated an Aviation Safety Consultant business. His company performs safety audits for aviation organizations (www.safetyforpilots.com).

 

Keith is a contributing writer to Rotor and Wing magazine www.rotorandwing.com. Check out his article from July 2015 “Bringing Benefits to the Masses” 

 

Keith currently has a consulting contract with the FAA to promote a helicopter safety program called Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS).  In this program Keith goes to civilian operators, law enforcement, and other agencies to encourage them to participate by installing flight data recorders (black boxes) into helicopters. The black box records data when the aircraft starts to move which can be downloaded and reviewed for any issues and concerns. The goal of the project is to collect data over three years and then make recommendations to improve helicopter safety. 

 

This project came from the National Transportation Safety Board’s concern that flight data recorders are not required in helicopters. The flight data recorder takes a snapshot of what is going on with the aircraft providing information to help helicopter safety. It also has a psychological effect – big brother is watching!

 

Keith is also a member of the United States Helicopter Safety Team. They are safety professionals who track helicopter accidents and work to improve helicopter safety. The rate of helicopter accidents has generally declined in recent years, although there was a spike in 2014 – generally due to pilot error.