The FAA, Honolulu FSDO is looking for a few "good mechanics" to serve as Aviation Safety Counselors (ASC). A counselor serves as liaison between the FAA and the aviation community to ensure good communication, mutual cognizance of aviation safety issues, and timely action on noted problems, or asked to counsel airmen, including instructors, pilots, mechanics, and others who exhibit unsafe acts. Occasionally, a counselor may be asked to conduct or assist in the presentation of aviation safety seminars.

There are currently 35 volunteer ASCs throughout Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa. To qualify for an ASC appointment, these individuals have been recognized for being active a minimum of six (6) months in the aviation community and have completed the ASC training which is given at the Honolulu FSDO. But the most compelling qualification is their demonstrated and voiced vision of a better and safer aviation community.

When appointed to the ASC program, the ASC volunteer receives a Certificate of Appointment, an ASC badge, and an active counselor file.

While an appointment to be an ASC does not grant the volunteer counselor the authority to act as an official representative of the Administrator of the FAA at any time, it does provide the opportunity for those individuals to make a difference by their presence throughout the aviation community; all the while functioning under the supervision of the Safety Program Manager (SPM) in the Honolulu FSDO. As a team, the ASC volunteers and the SPM act as a formidable force throughout the aviation community.

If you have ever felt that you would like to have an impact on aviation safety, perhaps being an ASC is a way for you to realize that urge.

The next ASC training will be held on Thursday, October 9, 1997, at 7:00 p.m. at the Honolulu FSDO. To get more information, contact Jim Hein, Aviation Safety Inspector, at 837-8335 or Tweet Coleman, SPM, at 837-8307.