Definition
A joint government and industry group founded in 1998 to reduce the fatal accident rate in commercial aviation. CAST analyzes accident and incident data, identifies safety risks, and develops voluntary safety enhancements that operators, manufacturers, and regulators agree to implement.
Plain English
A team made up of people from the FAA, airlines, aircraft makers, pilot groups, and others who study what causes airline accidents and agree on changes that will make flying safer.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation safety discussions, FAA safety material, accident-prevention programs, and references to commercial air carrier safety improvements.
Why Pilots Care
The team's recommendations have driven many of the safety improvements pilots see in procedures, training, and equipment.
Analogy
It is like a safety committee that studies many reports, looks for repeated problems, and recommends fixes before those problems lead to more accidents.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as a flight crew or a single company team. The Commercial Aviation Safety Team is a broad safety partnership that studies industry-wide risks and recommends ways to lower them.
Example Sentence 1
The Commercial Aviation Safety Team credits its data-driven safety enhancements with reducing the U.S. commercial fatal accident rate by more than 80 percent over two decades.
Example Sentence 2
Pilots benefit from the work of the Commercial Aviation Safety Team whenever updated procedures appear in their operating manuals.