Team Profile: Eric Gibson, Director of Safety

The Skytec team enables us to do everything that we do — including maintaining the highest commitment to safety in a rapidly changing industry. This month, we’re featuring Safety Director Eric Gibson who brings decades of experience in manned aviation and safety to the UAS industry.
 

In addition to holding a Bachelor of Science in environmental science, Eric Gibson holds a Certificate of Management in Aviation Safety. He completed the Business Aviation Leadership Program at Georgia State University J. Mack Robinson College of Business. He’s a Certified Aviation Manager through the National Business Aviation Administration and a member of the Southeast Aviation Safety Roundtable (SEASRT).
 

Q: Tell us about your background.

A: My father was a private pilot and air traffic controller when I was growing up, and I always wanted to learn to fly. While I was in college, I earned my private pilot license instrument rating. I like the structure of flying — there’s something comforting knowing if you do certain procedures and protocols, you’ll get expected outcomes.

I started working in aviation in 1993 at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport towing, refueling, and cleaning aircraft, and finally flying aircraft. Since 2000 I’ve been in corporate aviation and with my current employer, Unum, since 2002. Since 2016, I’ve served at Unum as Aviation Safety Director, and I joined Skytec in 2015 overseeing safety and aviation initiatives. Those in-depth experiences in corporate aviation and manned aircraft, paired with my longtime friendship and connection with Bill Rogers at Skytec, led to our current partnership.

Q: Describe your role here at Skytec.

A: At Skytec, I draw from my corporate aviation experience to manage the Skytec Safety Program. I provide guidance and training to Skytec personnel regarding aviation safety, and I developed and maintain three distinct initiatives that really distinguish us in the industry: the Skytec Safety Management System, our Flight Operations Manual, and our Pilot Training Program.

In 2015, I partnered with Rogers and Skytec CTO Andy Carroll to meet Federal Aviation Administration regulations that required drone pilots to hold, at minimum, a private pilot’s license. With the support of Rogers and Carroll, I’ve drawn from my extensive experience in commercial aviation to guide Skytec to grow a company-wide culture of safety.

In less than six years, I led Skytec’s collaboration and safety audit with ARGUS, a leading third-party rating system in aviation, to achieve platinum-level safety ratings, an in-depth process that requires the entire Skytec team to participate in a complete safety review. We built our safety systems and protocols from the ground up, and as such we’ve proven ourselves as an industry leader in safety risk management.

A culture of safety requires buy-in from everyone on our team. Similarly, we aim to embody a just culture that investigates potential accidents in a non-punitive manner. This culture encourages accountability on personal level and to each other, and in aviation in particular, this team approach can ensure the safety of everyone. Our complex safety management systems and training, built on the foundation of a strong safety culture, empower individuals to make the safest plans and flights possible.

Q: What’s one way you’ve contributed to the overarching momentum in the UAS industry?

A: We are attempting to develop and implement best practices in the unmanned industry where there is no history or standard for safety or excellence. We’ve collaborated with a company like ARGUS to help develop a set of industry best practices and standards that we feel will propel our industry to improve its safety record.

Q: What’s the most common misconception you hear about what you do, whether from people in or outside of the industry?

A: Historically, safety programs in aviation have been received in a negative light — for example, that safety programs are there to “catch” a pilot doing something wrong. That mindset has taken decades to change, and I believe it is slowly changing. Through our just culture at Skytec, I’m not concerned over who did what — a just culture encourages us to identify mistakes or errors and change our processes and procedures accordingly. We want to ensure any incident or accident can be prevented in the future. Safety programs are a positive change in both manned and unmanned aviation industries.

Q: What do you do when you’re not at work?

A: I recently completed my first triathlon, and I love hanging out with my two children — spending time with them is what I enjoy doing the most.