The paper is on how you would structure part of an aviation safety program for a commercial airline, a fixed base operation, or flying government agency. The paper is intended to cause you to do some research as well as demonstrate your thinking and writing skills. Write aboutwhat you know. Aviation is big and this problem does not necessarily need to be in the cockpit.

Maintenance, dispatch, forwarding, ATC, etc. are all areas you can write about.

The paper will be graded 80% for aviation safety content and research with the other 20% forstyle and grammar. This is a 400-level class and your writing will be graded at the college senior level.

Consider the aviation content and research part of the paper as two parts.

Part 1: Aviation Safety Problem: You cannot design part of a safety program in a

vacuum. So first describe what do you consider the most pressing safety problems in

aviation today? Your paper should fully describe each problem and why it is a serious

safety problem. It may be easier to pick two related problems, such as, poor airfield

marking and runway incursions. Part 1 focuses on the problem and shows how well you

can research.

Part 2: Aviation Safety Solution: Then, continue your paper by describing how you

would design a safety program element, which will ameliorate these problems from a

company point of view. If you picked two related problems, one program element could

address both problems. If you are addressing an ATC problem, you can pick one of two

points of view for addressing ATC problems; you can be an ATCer fixing your own

problem or you can be a flyer dealing with the ATC problem.

Note: This is not a paper about what the Federal Aviation Administration is doing to fix a

problem. It is a paper about what an operator must implement at the sub-program and process

level.

Style and Grammar: You must use the APA style guide. Use the style guide to help you

organize the context of the paper, not just for properly documenting your source material.

Consistent use of a style improves the readability of your paper, and, more importantly, it helps

you to be a better writer. Grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word use must all reflect college

senior level work.

Other Key Criteria:

• Page requirement is between eight and 10 pages, not to exceed 10 pages. This page requirement is exclusive of title pages, abstracts, endnotes or references cited as required by your style guide.

• Use of graphics must pass the common sense rule, i.e., this is a research oriented paper not a comic book; graphics must support the ideas being presented in the paper’s text. Overuse of graphics will detract from your grade and does not count in fulfilling the page requirement.
• Papers are due on the 11th week. Papers are submitted electronically using the Assignments tool in your course site.

• A paper that is turned in late may be downgraded 10 points for each week the paper is late, and may be scored as zero if the work is incomplete.

• Remember, this paper is worth up to 35% of your final grade. This is the biggest portion of your overall grade and you need to treat it as such

Class 9 Paper AVIATION SAFETY