AAAE ACE SMS | Questions with 100% Verified Answers | Latest
Update 2026/2027
Question: The final rule includes, among several other key elements, a list of three triggers (as described in the
SNPRM prior to the final rule) that determine the applicability of the rule. Airport certificate holders that qualify
under one or more of the following triggering criteria (triggers) are required to develop and implement SMS:
Answer: • Are classified as large, medium or small hubs, based on passenger data extracted from
the FAA Air Carrier Activity Information System.
• Have a three-year rolling average of 100,000 or more total annual operations, meaning
the sum of all arrivals and departures.
• Serve any international operation other than general aviation
Question: . At this writing, the most likely tenants subject to SMS regulation are
Answer: Part 121 airlines
Question: SMS builds safety capacity, but also improves
Answer: engagement, reduces waste, helps employee retention, and increases operational effectiveness
among many other positive outcomes.
Question: Hazard
Answer: "A condition that could foreseeably cause or contribute to an aircraft accident as defined in Title 49 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR) part 830, § 830.2."
Question: There are two primary types of risk: pure risk and speculative risk
Answer: Speculative risk is taken on voluntarily. In other words, the profit or loss that may result from your
conscious investment in a stock or bet on a horse is an example of speculative risk. Pure risk conveys that only
loss, not gain, is possible if the event occurs
Question: Once risks are classified and assessed we must decide how best to treat the risk. As a general
overview, our options typically include the ability to
Answer: - Avoid the risk (by changing our work process or operations).
• Mitigate the risk (by reducing either the severity or likelihood, or both).
• Accept the risk (by acknowledging the risk and self-insuring for its potential impact).
• Transfer the risk (by outsourcing to a specialist, purchasing insurance, or by contract)
Question: safety is
Answer: "the state in which the possibility of harm to persons or of property damage is reduced to, and
maintained at or below, an acceptable level through a continuing process of hazard identification and safety
risk management"
Question: Safety implies that we are actively engaged in:
Answer: • Creating functional resilience.
• Practical assessment of risk and risk-informed decision-making.
• The ability to identify, capture and learn from performance deviations.
Question: alternative definition of safety
Answer: preventing harm by making risk-based decisions supported by positive, embedded cultural values.
,Question: safety is never a stable state
Answer: It is a dynamic trade-off as we negotiate changing risk and hazards in an environment of competing
goals.
Question: The purpose of safety management and SMS
Answer: to maintain operations within a safety space (Figure 9), and even to expand the area of that space as
we learn.
Question: Active failures
Answer: actions or inactions, including errors and violations, that have an immediate adverse effect. They are
generally viewed, with the benefit of hindsight, as unsafe acts. Active failures are generally associated with
front-line personnel (pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft mechanical engineers, etc.) and may result in a
harmful outcome
Question: Latent conditions
Answer: those that exist in the aviation system well before a damaging outcome is experienced. The
consequences of latent conditions may remain dormant for a long time. Initially, these latent conditions are not
perceived as harmful, but they will become evident once the system's defenses have been breached. These
conditions are generally created by people far removed in time and space from the event. Latent conditions in
the system may include those created by the lack of a strong, positive safety culture, poor equipment or
procedural design, conflicting organizational goals, or defective organizational systems or management
decisions. The perspective underlying the organizational accident aims to identify and mitigate these latent
conditions on a system-wide basis rather than through localized efforts to minimize active failures by
individuals
Question: Speculative risk
Answer: the profit or loss that may result from your conscious investment in a stock or bet on a horse is an
example of speculative risk.
Question: Pure risk
Answer: conveys that only loss, not gain, is possible if the event occurs. For most of our discussions on safety
risk management, the risks discussed are pure, i.e., undesired, adverse events.
Question: how best to treat the risk. As a general overview, our options typically include the ability to
Answer: • Avoid the risk (by changing our work process or operations).
• Mitigate the risk (by reducing either the severity or likelihood, or both).
• Accept the risk (by acknowledging the risk and self-insuring for its potential impact).
• Transfer the risk (by outsourcing to a specialist, purchasing insurance. or contract
Question: normalization of deviance
Answer: success can be awfully convincing, and because no negative consequence materializes after crossing
the boundary, we may do it again. By repeating the cycle, the practical boundary begins to move.
Question: practical drift
Answer: you gradually began to drift away from those baselines of performance. Every organization
experiences this to varying degrees because baseline performance expectations cannot always account for the
complexity of real-life operational influences. Those influences create pressure to deviate from the intended
performance of the system
, Question: Safety observations
Answer: Using tools derived from LOSA or similar programs can help us to understand work as it is actually
done
Question: Safety investigations
Answer: Investigations traditionally focus on accidents or occurrences, but we can also investigate what went
right in an operation with the goal of identifying purposeful action that contributes to safety
Question: Safety assessments
Answer: : Proactive use of tools like HFACS can help us to look at success, as well as failure
Question: Safety culture surveys
Answer: Assessing safety culture helps us to understand how people feel about safety in the work
environment.
Question: Safety development
Answer: : Collaborative efforts to record everyday experiences within the organization help to generate new
insights about safety at the sharp end
Question: Team resource management
Answer: Extending the concepts of CRM to the broader workplace help to make the most of all available
resources
Question: Natural divisions between airside (movement and nonmovement areas), landside, and terminal
operations affect
Answer: • Development of hazard reporting programs that are fit-for-purpose for specific
operational environments.
• Data collection and analysis, given the differing data focus and nature of the data. Part
139 inspections can help in some respects with data collection, but for only one element.
• Policies that work across operational boundaries.
• Development of training that addresses the specific needs of each operational area.
• Alignment of differing organizational missions.
Question: Quality management relies on seven quality management principles designed to be applied through
management to facilitate organizational improvement
Answer: - customer focus
- leadership
- engagment of people
-process approach
- improvment
evidence based decision making
- relationship managment
Question: PDSA cycle
Answer: Plan, Do, Study, Act
Question: SMS promary components
Answer: Policy safety risk mangemnt saftey assurance promotion
Update 2026/2027
Question: The final rule includes, among several other key elements, a list of three triggers (as described in the
SNPRM prior to the final rule) that determine the applicability of the rule. Airport certificate holders that qualify
under one or more of the following triggering criteria (triggers) are required to develop and implement SMS:
Answer: • Are classified as large, medium or small hubs, based on passenger data extracted from
the FAA Air Carrier Activity Information System.
• Have a three-year rolling average of 100,000 or more total annual operations, meaning
the sum of all arrivals and departures.
• Serve any international operation other than general aviation
Question: . At this writing, the most likely tenants subject to SMS regulation are
Answer: Part 121 airlines
Question: SMS builds safety capacity, but also improves
Answer: engagement, reduces waste, helps employee retention, and increases operational effectiveness
among many other positive outcomes.
Question: Hazard
Answer: "A condition that could foreseeably cause or contribute to an aircraft accident as defined in Title 49 of
the Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR) part 830, § 830.2."
Question: There are two primary types of risk: pure risk and speculative risk
Answer: Speculative risk is taken on voluntarily. In other words, the profit or loss that may result from your
conscious investment in a stock or bet on a horse is an example of speculative risk. Pure risk conveys that only
loss, not gain, is possible if the event occurs
Question: Once risks are classified and assessed we must decide how best to treat the risk. As a general
overview, our options typically include the ability to
Answer: - Avoid the risk (by changing our work process or operations).
• Mitigate the risk (by reducing either the severity or likelihood, or both).
• Accept the risk (by acknowledging the risk and self-insuring for its potential impact).
• Transfer the risk (by outsourcing to a specialist, purchasing insurance, or by contract)
Question: safety is
Answer: "the state in which the possibility of harm to persons or of property damage is reduced to, and
maintained at or below, an acceptable level through a continuing process of hazard identification and safety
risk management"
Question: Safety implies that we are actively engaged in:
Answer: • Creating functional resilience.
• Practical assessment of risk and risk-informed decision-making.
• The ability to identify, capture and learn from performance deviations.
Question: alternative definition of safety
Answer: preventing harm by making risk-based decisions supported by positive, embedded cultural values.
,Question: safety is never a stable state
Answer: It is a dynamic trade-off as we negotiate changing risk and hazards in an environment of competing
goals.
Question: The purpose of safety management and SMS
Answer: to maintain operations within a safety space (Figure 9), and even to expand the area of that space as
we learn.
Question: Active failures
Answer: actions or inactions, including errors and violations, that have an immediate adverse effect. They are
generally viewed, with the benefit of hindsight, as unsafe acts. Active failures are generally associated with
front-line personnel (pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft mechanical engineers, etc.) and may result in a
harmful outcome
Question: Latent conditions
Answer: those that exist in the aviation system well before a damaging outcome is experienced. The
consequences of latent conditions may remain dormant for a long time. Initially, these latent conditions are not
perceived as harmful, but they will become evident once the system's defenses have been breached. These
conditions are generally created by people far removed in time and space from the event. Latent conditions in
the system may include those created by the lack of a strong, positive safety culture, poor equipment or
procedural design, conflicting organizational goals, or defective organizational systems or management
decisions. The perspective underlying the organizational accident aims to identify and mitigate these latent
conditions on a system-wide basis rather than through localized efforts to minimize active failures by
individuals
Question: Speculative risk
Answer: the profit or loss that may result from your conscious investment in a stock or bet on a horse is an
example of speculative risk.
Question: Pure risk
Answer: conveys that only loss, not gain, is possible if the event occurs. For most of our discussions on safety
risk management, the risks discussed are pure, i.e., undesired, adverse events.
Question: how best to treat the risk. As a general overview, our options typically include the ability to
Answer: • Avoid the risk (by changing our work process or operations).
• Mitigate the risk (by reducing either the severity or likelihood, or both).
• Accept the risk (by acknowledging the risk and self-insuring for its potential impact).
• Transfer the risk (by outsourcing to a specialist, purchasing insurance. or contract
Question: normalization of deviance
Answer: success can be awfully convincing, and because no negative consequence materializes after crossing
the boundary, we may do it again. By repeating the cycle, the practical boundary begins to move.
Question: practical drift
Answer: you gradually began to drift away from those baselines of performance. Every organization
experiences this to varying degrees because baseline performance expectations cannot always account for the
complexity of real-life operational influences. Those influences create pressure to deviate from the intended
performance of the system
, Question: Safety observations
Answer: Using tools derived from LOSA or similar programs can help us to understand work as it is actually
done
Question: Safety investigations
Answer: Investigations traditionally focus on accidents or occurrences, but we can also investigate what went
right in an operation with the goal of identifying purposeful action that contributes to safety
Question: Safety assessments
Answer: : Proactive use of tools like HFACS can help us to look at success, as well as failure
Question: Safety culture surveys
Answer: Assessing safety culture helps us to understand how people feel about safety in the work
environment.
Question: Safety development
Answer: : Collaborative efforts to record everyday experiences within the organization help to generate new
insights about safety at the sharp end
Question: Team resource management
Answer: Extending the concepts of CRM to the broader workplace help to make the most of all available
resources
Question: Natural divisions between airside (movement and nonmovement areas), landside, and terminal
operations affect
Answer: • Development of hazard reporting programs that are fit-for-purpose for specific
operational environments.
• Data collection and analysis, given the differing data focus and nature of the data. Part
139 inspections can help in some respects with data collection, but for only one element.
• Policies that work across operational boundaries.
• Development of training that addresses the specific needs of each operational area.
• Alignment of differing organizational missions.
Question: Quality management relies on seven quality management principles designed to be applied through
management to facilitate organizational improvement
Answer: - customer focus
- leadership
- engagment of people
-process approach
- improvment
evidence based decision making
- relationship managment
Question: PDSA cycle
Answer: Plan, Do, Study, Act
Question: SMS promary components
Answer: Policy safety risk mangemnt saftey assurance promotion
