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CAREER DEVELOPMENT Being Part of the FAASTeam F By Samantha Fowler inally everyone’s favorite part of the day has arrived: it’s time to clock out and go home! You get home and turn on the TV to catch the evening news as usual, and there it is all over the news, an airplane that was in your hangar earlier that day has been in an accident. Every airman’s worst fear is to be responsible for an aviation accident. But as we all know, even the best people can make the worst mistakes. What happened? Was it the Dirty Dozen out getting the best of airmen again, or per- haps it was failure to follow procedures? Safety! That’s the No. 1 rule in aviation and that’s what the FAASTeam is all about. Our goal is to improve the nation’s safety record by conveying safety principles and practices through training, outreach, and education. Online access When I first decided to become part of the FAASTeam in September of 2010, I became a member. It’s free to be a member and com- pletely beneficial to you the member. As a member, I would attend seminars and partici- pate in the Wings and AMT awards programs by doing the online courses on the FAASTeam web site www.FAAsafety.gov. You can do the courses whenever it is con- venient for you, and the amount you partici- pate determines the level of award you will FAA Safety Team Update To hear more about what the FAA and the FAASTeam can offer listen to How the FAASTeam can benefi t your career receive. After attending a few seminars, I decided that I wanted to become more involved and became a FAASTeam repre- sentative in November of 2010. As a repre- sentative, you may be asked to do anything from handing out itineraries at the door of a seminar to being a speaker at the seminar. This past April of 2011, I was asked to coor- dinate the seminar at which I was a speaker. I asked Lyle Lane about his experience with the FAASTeam. He is an A&P;, IA, pilot, and a FAASTeam representative. He said, “I feel that the FAA Safety Team is a group of people who are trying to make a difference in the aviation community by focusing on the safety aspect of aviation maintenance and operations which will make, in the long run as well as the near future, flying safer and make it a better experience for the general public.” Enhance your career Now you may wonder how being part of your local FAASTeam can help further your career. I asked Bill Hooten, an A&P;, IA, DME, pilot, and FAASTeam representative, if he thought the FAASTeam could benefit your career. He said, “I think that it can enhance our careers if we apply the knowledge learned to the everyday situations that we are faced with in our aviation environments.” Being part of your local FAASTeam is the AMT webinar held July 13. Sponsored by Goodyear Aviation, it featured FAA research scientist Dr. Katrina Avers, James Niehoff, and Randall Prine, both FAASTeam program managers. Topics covered included FAA awards programs, Dirty Dozen, courses the FAA has available online, research regarding mainte- nance fatigue, and how the FAASTeam helps fulfill its mission of reducing the general aviation accident rate by emphasizing safety principles and practices. For more visit www.amtonline.com/webinars. 28 August 2011 attractive to employers. Yes, it’s volunteer work, but it shows dedication to the industry of aviation. It shows how much you care about making aviation as safe as possible by staying aware of the dangers in aviation and keeping up with the changes made by the FAA. As an example, I recently attended a seminar and learned the process of how to re-register an aircraft. It was very help- ful and provided great information. Yes, I attend these seminars on my own time and Aircraft Maintenance Technology • www.AMTonline.com • www.AMTSociety.org