Management
DA SMS Operations & Individual Responsibilities

Gold Aviation Services is a FAA Part 135 on-demand air charter operator based at KFLL, operating under South Florida FSDO-19. Our SMS is implemented under 14 CFR Part 5 — the FAA's mandatory SMS regulation for Part 135 certificate holders.

The SMS is structured around four key roles:

• Accountable Executive (AE): — Ultimate accountability for the SMS. Has authority over resources required to implement and maintain the system. Signs the safety policy.
• Director of Safety (DOS): — Day-to-day management of the SMS. Administers the reporting system, admnisters the CASS program, opens and tracks corrective actions, conducts internal audits and facilitates external audits, maintains SMS records, Safety Data Sheet library (SDS/MSDS), and safety training records.
• Director of Maintenance (DOM) — Exercise operational control, holds company authority for the maintenance program and ensures maintenance-related hazards are addressed through both CASS and the SMS. Participates in the SAG and ensures maintenance-related hazards are addressed.
• Director of Operations (DO) and Chief Pilot: — Exercise operational control and oversee the integration of flight operations within the SMS.
• Safety Action Group (SAG): Meets regularly to review safety reports, assess risk, recommend corrective actions, and monitor open CASS items. The SAG is the operational heart of our Safety Assurance process.
• Safety Board: Chaired by the Accountable Executive. Meets quarterly to review safety performance data, SPI trends, audit results, and SAG recommendations. Provides organizational direction on safety priorities and resource allocation.

The Gold Aviation voluntary safety reporting system is the primary mechanism for hazard identification. You can submit a report for any safety concern — near-miss, hazard observation, operational error, equipment issue, or unsafe condition — at any time.

How to submit: Reports are submitted through the Gold Safety SMS platform. The Director of Safety is your point of contact for all safety reports.

What to report:

• Any hazard you observe (in operations, maintenance, facilities, processes or other areas).
• Any unplanned event that could have resulted in injury, damage, or loss
• Errors you made or observed that could recur or could be learned from
• Organizational conditions (pressure, fatigue, communication failures) that create safety risk

What happens after you report:

1. The Director of Safety receives your report through FOS (or directly if submitting report directly to the DOS).
2. The Director of Safety reviews the report and classifies the hazard and risk level.
3. If corrective action is required, a CAPA is opened and assigned.
4. Corrective actions are tracked to closure.
5. The Director of Safety may contact you for additional information or clarification. This is part of the process, not an investigation of you or your actions.
6. The system notifies you when the report is closed.

The Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) is Gold Aviation's Operational Risk Assessment — a mandatory pre-departure tool completed before every flight leg. It applies binary scoring to defined risk factors across four categories: pilots, aircraft, environment, and external factors. Each factor is either present (1) or not applicable (0); the cumulative count determines overall risk level.

• Low risk — Operations may proceed. FRAT must be documented before departure.
• Medium risk — DOS notification required; coordinates mitigations and approval with Chief Pilot. Review contributing factors, implement mitigations. Mitigations and approval must be documented.
• High risk — Do not depart. A mitigation plan and crew briefing are required. Operational control approval and DOS notification are mandatory. All actions must be documented.

The FRAT is part of Gold Aviation's Safety Risk Management process under 14 CFR Part 5. A.

As a department lead and/or manager, you are a critical link in the safety culture chain. The way you respond when an employee comes to you with a safety concern or a self-reported error can be a determining factor in whether that person ever reports again.

Your just culture responsibilities as a manager include:

• Respond supportively when someone raises a safety concern or reports an error. Even if it's inconvenient, your response in that moment shapes our reporting culture.
• Do not discourage reporting – directly or through scheduling pressure, negative reactions, or signals that safety concerns are unwelcome or insignificant.
• Refer, don't filter — if a team member brings you a safety concern, ensure it reaches the Director of Safety. Don't decide on their behalf that it isn't worth reporting.
• Recognize organizational pressure — if your team is consistently working in conditions that create risk (fatigue, undue time pressure), it is a systemic hazard. Escalate it; don't absorb it.

Your SMS responsibilities under 14 CFR Part 5 and the Gold Aviation SMS Manual:

• Safety Action Group participation: If you are a designated SAG representative, attend meetings, contribute operational context to safety report reviews, and ensure corrective actions assigned to your area are completed and verified.
• Resource support: When the DOS identifies a resource need to address a safety risk, support the allocation of those resources. Scheduling or budget pressure that overrides a safety decision undermines the SMS and the safety of our company.
• Hazard reporting: You are not exempt from the reporting system. If you observe a hazard — in operations, facilities, or process — submit a safety report.
• Training compliance: Complete all assigned SMS training by the due date. Ensure your direct reports do the same.
• Safety communication: Action Safety Bulletins, Alerts, and Notices to your team as required and/or directed by the DOS. Acknowledge receipt where required.

When a safety report, audit finding, or other identified hazard requires action, the DOS opens a CAPA in Gold Safety. This is how Gold Aviation Services documents, assigns, tracks, and verifies the response to safety risks.

1. Initiation: DOS opens a CAPA, links it to the originating report or finding, and documents the hazard and risk level
2. Root Cause Analysis: root cause and contributing factors are identified and documented
3. Assignment: a specific, verifiable action is assigned to a responsible party with a due date
4. Implementation: the assigned party completes the action
5. Verification: DOS confirms the action was completed and effective
6. Closure: the CAPA is closed with documentation

If you are contacted by the DOS during the investigation phase, that is a normal part of the process. It is not an investigation of you personally and does not affect your just culture protections.