Signal Charlie

About Signal Charlie
Signal Charlie is an aggregate site being developed to promote safety in high reliability organizations, with a focus on aviation.
When trying to decide on a name for the site, I remembered my Naval Aviator days and the codewords from the carrier, “Signal Charlie”, which meant that the flight deck was ready for landing ops. This was always a welcome message, especially after a long flight. What you didn’t want to hear was “Signal Delta”, which meant take up a holding pattern on the starboard side of the ship. You could always get a green deck, though, by telling the Air Boss that you had “pony” (mail) on board. Signal Charlie will be a site that advances the goal of smart flight operations in dynamic environments, and we hope this site generates a lot of “pony”.

The Charlie signal flag also means “Affirmative”, and this represents the proactive nature of a quality Safety Management System (SMS), the future of aviation safety. SMS components include an open reporting culture, risk management methodology and continuous improvement process. In SMS, people nurture partnerships that promote operational goals and safety. Positive communications fuel these partnerships, and Signal Charlie is meant to be a vehicle for critical team communications.

Our site will be used to communicate ideas on an international deck, developing the same kinds of standardization that the International Code of Signals offers. Well developed, standardized procedures and efficient communication are key components of any quality system.

Please be patient as we add content to this site, and feel free to post your comments and recommendations.

Fly Smart
“Clark and Tokenchick”

About “Clark” Kent Lewis

Aviation Safety Programs
Kent Graduated from the U.S. Navy Postgraduate School’s Aviation Safety Officer course, and was the Director of Safety and Standardization at MCAS Yuma, the largest aviation training facility in the United States. He was previously the Safety Department Head at VT-27, the Navy’s busiest aviation training squadron. His safety programs have been recognized as the best in the Navy/Marine Corps and have a zero mishap rate.

Kent volunteers as a FAA Safety Team Lead Representative for the Ft Worth FSDO, has attended the ALPA Basic Safety School, Safety Two School, Advanced Accident Investigation course and is the DALPA Atlanta Council 44 Safety Chairman. His focus is Human Factors and System Safety , and he is a member of ISASI.

Flight Instruction
Kent was a flight instructor while in the U.S. Marine Corps, teaching Navy and Marine primary and intermediate students in the T-34C, a fixed wing turboprop trainer. He is a graduate of the Naval Air Training Command Flight Instructor Training Course. He also flew helicopters and was a Terrain Flight, Search And Rescue and Night Vision Goggle Instructor. He recently gained certification with the FAA to be a Certificated Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor and Multi-engine Instructor in airplanes. His flight instructor training was conducted at Cliff Hyde Flying Services, Ellington Field (KEFD), Houston, TX. This Part 141 program was part of the San Jacinto College Aeronautical Technology curriculum.

Education
Kent is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, and he has a Masters degree in Library and Information Science from Texas Woman’s University.

“I am a history major. I believe that the past is prologue. The archives bear that out. Most major aircraft accidents are not acts of God. In our recommendations we try to take what we have learned and correct situations so it shouldn’t happen again.”
— James Hall, NTSB, 1996.

Commercial Pilot
Kent is certified by the FAA as a multi-engine Airline Transport Pilot, and as a Commercial Pilot for single-engine airplanes and Helicopters. He has over 20 years of flying experience, for the U. S. Marine Corps, American Eagle Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.

Emergency Preparedness and Response
Kent is a graduate of the National Search And Rescue School’s Inland SAR Coordination course, and was the SAR Officer for MCAS Yuma, AZ. His SAR Coordinator responsibilities included Interagency coordination with over 50 Local, State, and Federal Response Agencies. He has over 20 years experience with the Incident Command System and authored the Incident Action Plan for MCAS Yuma, the Nation’s largest joint use airfield.

Thanks for visiting the site!

“Clark”

Contact info: kent@signalcharlie.net

About Audrey aka “Tokenchick”

Education

Audrey graduated with honors from Corpus Christi State University, receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Communications while majoring in Drama. She graduated Texas Woman’s University with a Masters in Drama with an emphasis on Costume Design. She is an expert in interpersonal, small group communications, the key component to efficient and safe teamwork. Whether you are in the cockpit, classroom or boardroom, if you can’t communicate, you can’t succeed.

Accomplishments

Audrey has also been designing, drafting and constructing costumes for over 30 years. She is also an accomplished actor, having appeared on stage, television and film productions.

Small Business Owner
Audrey is the sole proprietor of audreycarol.com

Contact info: audrey@audreycarol.com

About Spooky

Spooky is one of the smartest people I know, working on a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering and incredibly talented. Spooky graciously volunteers time to mentor me on the intricacies of website design and things that involve tremendous amounts of calculus.

Contact info: spooky@ifitoldyouidhavetokillyou.com