Accountable Executive
DA SMS Operations & Individual Responsibilities

As the Accountable Executive (AE) of Gold Aviation Services, you hold a specific, named regulatory position under 14 CFR Part 5. This is not a title of honor — it is a legal designation with personal accountability attached to it.

14 CFR §5.23(a) requires that you, by name, control or have authority over the financial and human resources required to implement and maintain the SMS. This control cannot be delegated away. You can assign tasks, but the accountability stays with you.

14 CFR §5.25 requires you to sign the safety policy — not approve it through a designee. Your signature on the safety policy is the regulatory mechanism that makes Gold Aviation Services' commitment to safety legally binding at the organizational level.

Your non-delegable obligations under 14 CFR Part 5:

• Control the financial and human resources required for SMS implementation (§5.23(a))
• Sign and publish the Gold Aviation safety policy (§5.25)
• Establish and communicate safety objectives (§5.25(b))
• Ensure management personnel have the authority and responsibility to implement the SMS within their areas (§5.23(b))
• Chair the Safety Board (Gold Aviation SMS Manual §4.2.4)
• Accept or reject safety risk — no risk may be accepted above your authorization level without your explicit approval (SMS Manual §4.4)

The Director of Safety leads the day-to-day SMS operation. Management personnel implement it in their areas. But the regulatory obligation — the personal accountability for whether Gold Aviation Services has an effective SMS — rests with you.

The safety policy is the foundational document of Gold Aviation Services' SMS. Under 14 CFR §5.21, it must be signed by the Accountable Executive, communicated to all personnel, and made available throughout the organization. It is not a static document — it must be reviewed and updated when organizational changes, regulatory changes, or SMS performance data warrant it.

Required content under 14 CFR §5.21:

• A commitment to implement and maintain the SMS
• A commitment to encourage and practice non-punitive reporting of safety information
• A commitment to comply with applicable regulatory requirements
• A commitment to continuous improvement of the SMS
• Clear statements of safety objectives

Gold Aviation Services' safety objectives are developed annually and published to the organization. As AE, you approve these objectives. They must be measurable, realistic, and aligned with SMS performance data. The DOS will bring proposed objectives to you for review — your role is to approve, challenge, or redirect them based on organizational priorities.

Safety policy review triggers: The safety policy should be reviewed and potentially revised when: the organizational structure changes significantly, there is a change in regulatory requirements, SMS performance data indicates a systemic gap, or following a significant incident or accident. The DOS will flag these triggers; the decision to revise rests with you.

14 CFR §5.23(a) requires that the Accountable Executive "controls or has authority over the financial and human resources required for the operations to be conducted under the certificate." This is not administrative language — it is the regulatory mechanism that ensures the SMS can actually function.

In practice, this means:

• When the DOS identifies a resource need for SMS implementation (training budget, tooling, personnel, time), you have the authority — and the obligation — to provide it or explain why it cannot be provided and what the risk mitigation is
• When a safety risk requires a resource commitment to control, that commitment flows through you
• When operational pressures compete with safety investments, you are the tiebreaker — and Part 5 establishes which side you are accountable to

Risk acceptance authority (SMS Manual §4.4): The Part 119 managers hold risk acceptance authority within their domains — Director of Operations for operational risk, Director of Maintenance for maintenance risk. But no risk above those managers' authorization levels may be accepted without your explicit approval. When the DOS escalates a risk that exceeds departmental authority, the decision comes to you.

This means you must be reachable, responsive, and informed enough to make those decisions in a reasonable timeframe. The SMS cannot function if risk acceptance decisions stall because the AE is unavailable. If you are going to be unreachable for an extended period, a designee should be identified in advance.

You chair the Gold Aviation Services Safety Board. This is not a ceremonial role — under 14 CFR §5.71 and §5.73, the management review process is a Safety Assurance requirement, and your participation as AE gives it the organizational authority that the SAG-level process does not have.

Safety Board cadence and purpose (SMS Manual §4.2.4): The Safety Board meets quarterly to:

• Review safety performance data and SPI trends against established targets
• Review audit results and IEP findings from the preceding period
• Review SAG recommendations requiring AE-level decision or resource commitment
• Review the status of open corrective actions requiring management attention
• Provide strategic direction on safety priorities and resource allocation for the next period
• Review and approve changes to safety objectives if warranted

Safety Performance Indicators (SPIs): You approve the organization's SPIs under §5.25(b). At each Safety Board, you review trend data against those indicators. When an SPI shows adverse trend — increasing incident rate, declining reporting rate, pattern of repeat findings — you direct the response. The DOS identifies the problem; you authorize the fix.

Management review documentation: Safety Board minutes must be maintained as SMS records under 14 CFR §5.97. The DOS maintains these records. If the FAA asks for evidence of your management review process, these minutes are the primary documentation.

Safety culture is not what an organization says about safety — it is how it behaves when safety and other priorities conflict. As Accountable Executive, you are the single most influential factor in Gold Aviation Services' safety culture. No policy, training module, or reporting system produces a functional safety culture if senior leadership does not visibly support it.

Just culture (14 CFR §5.21): The safety policy you sign includes a commitment to non-punitive reporting. That commitment has a specific behavioral meaning: employees who submit good-faith safety reports cannot be disciplined for the content of those reports. This protection applies to self-reported errors, near-misses, and hazard observations.

What just culture does not mean: Non-punitive reporting does not eliminate accountability for reckless behavior, willful violations, or intentional misconduct. Gold Aviation's SMS Manual §2.4 is explicit: just culture distinguishes between honest errors (protected) and negligence, recklessness, or sabotage (not protected). The AE retains the authority — and the obligation — to hold personnel accountable for the latter.

Promoting safety culture (14 CFR Part 5, Subpart E): You are required by §5.91-§5.93 to establish safety training programs, ensure safety communication reaches all personnel, and promote safety awareness. The DOS implements these programs. You fund them, endorse them visibly, and participate in them — including this training module.

Under Gold Aviation SMS Manual §5.11.3.2, the Accountable Executive and designated management personnel are required to complete initial SMS training covering the following topics. This module satisfies the initial training requirement for the Accountable Executive.

Required initial training content (SMS Manual §5.11.3.2):

• SMS roles, responsibilities, and accountability under 14 CFR §5.23 and §5.25
• Safety policy and safety objectives
• Hazard identification and safety risk management principles
• Safety risk acceptance authority and decision-making responsibilities
• Safety assurance, audits, and management review processes
• Safety performance indicators and continuous improvement
• Safety promotion and communication responsibilities

Annual recurrent training (SMS Manual §5.11.3.2): Recurrent training must include:

• Review of SMS roles and safety accountability
• Review of safety performance, trends, and SPI data
• Review of internal audits, IEP findings, and corrective actions from the preceding year
• Updates to SMS processes, regulatory requirements, or operational changes
• Lessons learned from incidents, hazards, and industry events

Completion of this module will be recorded in the Gold Safety platform under your personnel record. Annual recurrent training will be dispatched to you by the Director of Safety prior to the anniversary of your initial training completion date.

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, manages the corrective action process, conducts audits, and maintains SMS records.
• Director of Maintenance (DOM) — ultimate regulatory authority for maintenance. Participates in the SAG and ensures maintenance-related hazards are addressed.
• Department Representatives — designated individuals from Flight Ops, Maintenance, and Management who participate in the Safety Action Group.

Safety Action Group (SAG): Meets regularly to review safety reports, assess risk, recommend corrective actions, and monitor open corrective actions. 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 near-miss or unplanned event that could have resulted in injury, damage, or loss
• Any hazard you observe — in operations, maintenance, facilities, or process
• Errors you made or observed that could recur
• Organizational conditions (pressure, fatigue, communication failures) that are creating safety risk
• Anything that didn't feel right — even if nothing went wrong

What happens after you report:

1. The Director of Safety acknowledges your report
2. The report is classified by hazard type and risk level
3. If corrective action is required, a corrective action is opened and assigned in Gold Safety
4. The SAG reviews the report and monitors the corrective action to closure
5. You may be contacted for additional information — this is part of the process, not an investigation of you

The Flight Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) is a pre-flight risk scoring tool that quantifies operational risk before each flight. It is completed by the Pilot in Command before every flight.

The FRAT evaluates risk factors across several categories including weather, crew experience, airport complexity, time of day, and flight time. Each factor is assigned a weighted score and the total determines the overall risk level.

• Low risk — proceed normally
• Medium risk — review mitigations, proceed with caution
• High risk — contact the Director of Safety. Do not depart until mitigations reduce risk to an acceptable level or the flight is cancelled

The FRAT is a proactive hazard identification tool — part of Gold Aviation Services' Safety Risk Management process. A High FRAT score is not a failure. It is the system working as intended.

Just culture begins with you. The Accountable Executive's commitment to non-punitive reporting is not a policy statement — it is a behavioral standard that every employee in the organization observes and responds to.

Your just culture responsibilities as Accountable Executive:

• Protect reporters — if you learn that an employee faced adverse consequences for a good-faith safety report, that must be corrected immediately and visibly. Any tolerance of retaliation against reporters destroys reporting culture.
• Model transparency — when safety concerns are raised at the Safety Board level, engage with them openly. Avoiding uncomfortable safety data sends the wrong message.
• Distinguish mistakes from misconduct — in any safety-related personnel matter, ensure the just culture framework is applied before any disciplinary action is considered.
• Resource the fix — when the Director of Safety brings you a resource request to address a safety issue, responding with adequate resources is the most direct demonstration of your safety commitment.

The Accountable Executive has specific, non-delegable obligations under 14 CFR Part 5. These are not administrative tasks — they are the regulatory foundation of Gold Aviation Services' SMS:

• Signed safety policy — the safety policy must bear your signature and be communicated to all personnel. It establishes the organization's safety objectives, accountability framework, and commitment to non-punitive reporting.
• Resource authority — you must have control over the financial and human resources necessary to implement and maintain the SMS. When the Director of Safety identifies a resource need to address a safety risk, the decision to provide or withhold those resources rests with you.
• Safety Board participation — chair the quarterly Safety Board. Review safety performance data, SPI trends, audit findings, and corrective action status. Provide organizational direction on safety priorities.
• SMS compliance deadline — Gold Aviation Services must achieve full 14 CFR Part 5 compliance by May 28, 2027. This is your regulatory deadline, not the Director of Safety's.
• Training completion — complete all assigned SMS training modules. The Accountable Executive's training record is part of the compliance evidence package.

Understanding what happens after a report is submitted helps reinforce why reporting matters — and what to expect if you are involved in a follow-up.

When a safety report or audit finding identifies a hazard that requires action, a corrective action is opened in the Gold Safety platform. Corrective actions are the mechanism Gold Aviation Services uses to document, assign, track, and close the response to identified safety risks. This is distinct from the Continuing Analysis and Surveillance System (CASS), which is a maintenance quality program under AC 120-79A led by the Director of Maintenance.

The corrective action process:

1. Initiation: DOS opens a corrective action in Gold Safety, assigns a number, links it to the originating report or finding, and documents the hazard and risk level
2. Investigation — root cause is identified. Contributing factors are documented.
3. Corrective action — a specific action is assigned to a responsible party with a due date
4. Implementation — the assigned party completes the corrective action
5. Verification — DOS verifies the action was completed and effective
6. Closure: The corrective action is closed with documentation of the action taken and effectiveness verification. The SAG reviews and concurs.

You may be contacted by the DOS during the investigation phase for additional information. This is a normal part of the process — it is not an investigation of you personally, and it does not affect your just culture protections.