An assessment of the perceptions of respondents on the safety culture at an accredited Part 141 four year collegiate aviation program was conducted as part of the implementation of a safety management system (SMS). The Collegiate Aviation Program Safety Culture Assessment Survey (CAPSCAS), which was modified and revalidated from the existing Commercial Aviation Safety Survey (CASS), was used. Participants were drawn from flight students and certified flight instructors in the program. The survey captured the perceptions of participants on the status of the safety culture in the program. There were significant variances in the perception of respondents on the safety culture by year groups, and it was observed that respondents who had spent more years in the program had a better perception on the prevailing safety culture than those who had just entered the program. There were also significant differences in the perceptions of U.S. resident students and international contract students on the program’s safety culture. The international students had a less favorable perception of the safety culture in the program. The results show that differences in national culture can have a significant effect on perceptions of the safety culture in a collegiate aviation program.

The study conceptualized Safety Management System (SMS) initiative, self-efficacy, and transformational safety leadership as constructs that relates to safety behavior (measured by safety compliance and safety participation) when mediated by safety motivation using a quantitative approach. Structural equation modeling techniques was used to derive a final measurement model that fit the empirical data and was used to test the study hypotheses. Utilizing a sample of 282 collegiate flight students and instructors from a large public university in the US, a 46-item survey was used to measure respondent’s perceptions on the study variables. The results indicate that perceptions of SMS policy implementation have direct, positive significant effect on safety compliance and SMS process engagement has direct, positive significant effect on safety participation. Self-efficacy had direct, positive significant effect on both safety compliance and safety participation. Safety motivation fully mediated the effect of transformational safety leadership on safety participation. There were indications that respondents were not familiar with the Emergency Response Plan of the collegiate aviation program's SMS. The theoretical and policy implications of this study to improve proactive safety in collegiate aviation are discussed.

A cross-sectional quasi- mixed-method approach was used to determine the relationships between safety culture perceptions and safety reporting behavior among flight students with and without certified flight instructor (CFI) ratings. Respondents (n=259) were recruited from five collegiate aviation programs in the US and took part in the study. Survey Items adopted from the Collegiate Aviation Perception of Safety Culture Assessment Survey (CAPSCAS) were validated using factor analysis analyzed for reliability before use in the study. Researchers sought to find out if the safety reporting behavior (reporting frequency) of respondents could be predicted from their safety culture perceptions. Pearson’s Bivariate Correlation, Multiple Regressions, independent T-test of means, and Analysis of Covariance were used for data analyses. The findings indicated that the age of respondents, perceptions on the variables Reporting System and Safety Fundamentals were statistically significant predictors of safety reporting behavior. Additionally, there was no significant statistical difference in the mean safety reporting frequency between respondents with and without CFI ratings. A major theme from the qualitative part of the study was pressure to fly when conditions were considered unsafe, in order to meet ground course targets. These respondents felt that such pressures placed them under duress to fly when not fully fit psychologically, physiologically, and in adverse weather conditions. The inclusion of the collegiate program’s safety reporting process and procedures in a related academic course like Safety Management Systems (SMS) was found to be very beneficial in some collegiate programs. Researchers of this study recommend an extension of safety awareness programs to include all line personnel, students, and management involved in collegiate aviation programs. The awareness program must entail the process and procedures for effective safety reporting. Additionally, further validation of the CAPSCAS should be conducted. Qualitative approaches can be effectively utilized to gain a clearer understanding of safety culture perceptions, specifically, how age influences safety reporting behavior. Furthermore, analysis of safety culture perceptions among groups such as flight program management personnel and flight students can be compared and contrasted. These recommendations may assist the collegiate aviation community to enhance a positive organizational safety culture.

An increase in evidence-based studies into the deleterious effects of fatigue on flight operations has been reported by key aviation groups globally. The collegiate aviation flight training environment has not been researched at the same level when compared to military and airline operations. College aged students are unique in the sense that they are tasked with classwork, studying, participation in student organizations, social activities, and often have part time jobs within and outside of the academic environment. These conditions may cause errors, incidents, accidents, poor academic performance, and undesirable health metrics. The purpose of this study was to understand fatigue as a multi-factorial dimension and to assess potential relationships among these factors using hypothesized measurement models. The research team distributed the Collegiate Aviation Fatigue Inventory II (CAFI-II) to eight small, medium, and large collegiate aviation programs in the United States. The CAFI-II primarily focuses on fatigue awareness, causes and symptoms of fatigue, and lifestyle choices. Four hundred and twenty-two (n = 422) valid responses were obtained. Results suggested a direct predictive relationship between fatigue in collegiate flight training and the perceptions of respondents of conditions that are known to cause fatigue. Findings also suggested that respondents who had a favorable perception of fatigue risk and management programs had a better understanding of the causes of fatigue.

The integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into the National Air Space (NAS) in recent times has been met by mixed public responses. The paper establishes four constructs each of which encapsulates multiple backgrounds and concerns of the stakeholders: functional knowledge, utilization trust, operational integration support, and safety risk-benefits. The paper hypothesizes that these constructs can serve as underlying components for a research instrument namely, the Public Utilization Perception Potential (PUPP) which can be used to assess the opinions of the public on UAS integration into NAS. Responses from the public on items in a beta-tested survey instrument were analyzed for construct validity and reliability using Principal Axis Factoring (PAF). Four factors that suggest constructs underlying PUPP instrument were derived. Using Structural Equation Model (SEM) approach, a hypothesized measurement model of PUPP was further validated and the final measurement model showed good fit of the observed data based on the RMSEA goodness-of-fit index (0.034). The paper further assessed the strength of relationships between the underlying constructs of PUPP. The results suggest that approximately 65% and 27% of all respondents had partial and no knowledge, respectively, about UAS integration into the NAS. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores on safety-risk benefits on UAS among gender. Males were found to be more likely to patronize unmanned commercial passenger services compared to females. The results indicated a statistically significant difference in UAS knowledge and perceptions across educational levels. It was rather counter-intuitive as respondents with lower educational levels were found to be more knowledgeable about UAS compared to those of higher levels based on the results of this study. Investments in information resources and training by industry, government and academia may be helpful to improve UAS knowledge and perceptions among the public if any commercial utilization as a transport mode will be feasible. Future studies will replicate the study in countries other than the United States.