Duncan Aviation Achieves SMS Level 3 Certification

Duncan Aviation announces that manager of Audit Programs, Mike Brown, has accepted a certificate on the company’s behalf from WYVERN Ltd. The certification recognizes Duncan Aviation for having a safety management system (SMS) in place at its repair station in Lincoln, NE.

Duncan Aviation is an active participant in the FAA’s voluntary SMS program, and because of its voluntary nature, there is no certification of repair stations’ SMS by the FAA. WYVERN, a global company that is committed to guiding aviation companies in safety-risk management, has filled that void.

Based on the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standards, WYVERN verifies that the Duncan Aviation SMS met four levels of performance:

• has an SMS in place
• takes measures to mitigate risks from human factors
• incorporates safety into the company’s culture
• and has a means to assess basic aviation risks.

WYVERN certifies an organization to SMS Level 1 when all of the elements are present. SMS Level 2 verifies that the elements are present and operational, and SMS Level 3 shows that the elements work: that they are effective in ensuring the safety of team members, products and services, and customers. 

“SMS Level 3 means that our SMS policy can’t just be a manual on a shelf collecting dust,” Brown says. “The organizations that set international standards want to see the policy in action. WYVERN verified that our SMS coordinates all safety-related activity so we can better manage hazards. The audit found that we as a company use the SMS to help us learn from history, mitigate risks, and make informed decisions as we resolve issues.”

SMS Level 4 indicates that a company’s policies and best practices align, the safety culture has been sustained, the human factors program is effective, and decisions made by the organization are based on solid safety data.

Duncan Aviation can apply for WYVERN to perform a SMS Level 4 audit in 2021.