The Flight Plan is the strategic plan for the agency, the plan to help us prepare for the future. The majority of FAA's responsibilities are our core functions- our everyday roles and responsibilities- which are not specifically highlighted in this document. For any area of the Flight Plan that you would like more information or see how it flows into our business plans, please look on the internet at www.faa.gov under the "Quick Links" section to the Strategic Flight Plan.

Air Traffic Organization's most fundamental imperative is to ensure the safety of the national airspace system. Safety can be effectively determined not only by the current absence of accidents, but also the presence of safe conditions well into the future. Therefore, as we build the Next Generation Air Transportation System, the resulting cross organizational changes to the NAS will require us to maintain an intensive, proactive, and systematic focus on safety. This focus is achieved through the implementation of the Safety Management System (SMS). The SMS formally integrates the ATO's safety-related operational processes, procedures, policies, and programs. SMS stresses safety assurance, through the analysis of safety data, and promotes a vibrant safety culture among our workforce. SMS also guarantees that every step we take toward NextGen, we are identifying, analyzing, and mitigating risk. This manual outlines the procedures and responsibilities regarding the functioning of the SMS. This manual was developed as the result of a consolidated, agency-wide effort and reflects current international best practices. Safety experts and managers from across the FAA contributed to its development. This version of the manual marks an important next step toward a complete and integrated SMS in the FAA. In support of the effort to provide a safer National Airspace System (NAS) using the Safety Management System (SMS), this manual describes the Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service (AOV) safety requirements and responds to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety process requirements for the Air Traffic Organization (ATO). The manual also provides guidance, processes, and tools to ATO personnel for managing the safety of the NAS, building on existing ATO safety management capabilities. This manual was created to provide specific operational process information to support the daily activities of ATO employees. It describes the functions, components, and principles of the SMS and provides the guidance to apply them effectively. The first chapter of this manual is an introduction to the SMS. The remaining chapters are organized by the four components of the SMS: safety policy, Safety Risk Management (SRM), safety assurance, and safety promotion. Each chapter is described as follows. a. Chapter 1 - SMS Overview: An SMS introduction that includes the definition of the SMS, how it originated in the ATO, and the objectives, scope, and products. b. Chapter 2 - Safety Policy: A description of the safety management requirements, which are consistent with AOV SMS and ICAO safety process requirements; roles and responsibilities related to the SMS and the relationships among the different roles; why safety oversight is necessary; and responsibilities and authorities of AOV. c. Chapter 3 - Safety Risk Management: The types of changes evaluated for safety risk; processes and guidance available for determining the level of safety analysis required; detail and documentation required for safety analysis; SRM process; SRM terminology, tools, and techniques; risk acceptance requirements; tracking required NAS changes; and the development and approval of SRM documentation. d. Chapter 4 - Safety Assurance: The importance of safety reviews and evaluations in the SMS; assurance programs, including the Air Traffic Evaluation and Auditing Program, the NAS Technical Evaluation Program, the Independent Operational Test and Evaluation process, Independent Safety Assessments, and SRM audits; importance of safety data; types of data; how data are collected and reported; processes for reporting safety incidents and accidents; relationship between incident investigations and SRM; monitoring of mitigations through safety data tracking and analysis; and existing safety data reporting documents and processes. e. Chapter 5 - Safety Promotion: What a safety culture is; why it is important; responsibilities within it; and SMS training.

Amelia Earhart entitled her book "The Fun of It." THIS book relates humorous aviation adventures -- what pilots call hangar flying. Amelia was right . . . Flying is fun

Were the Wright Brothers really the first to fly? Wright or Wrong? From Dream to War, Aviation and the Wright Brothers Revisited, follows the meandering path of the ancient dream to fly. From the Cuneiform clay tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh, to the rubble of the Twin Towers of 9/11, discover dozens of tasty, entertaining, and often unknown characters and their daring stories. Along our sleuthing journey to the sources of aviation, uncover the narrow gap between the pursuit of dreams, the pettiness of man, and the fragility of our freedoms.