"The Board has been advocating the use of SMS for a decade, having issued 17 recommendations in favor of implementing SMS in the aviation industry. When implemented correctly, Hersman said, "SMS holds real promise in a variety of scenarios."

She noted several instances where SMS helped eliminate potential unsafe conditions, notably a corporate flight operation that used flight data to determine that high bank angles occurred on repositioning flights, and a review of commercial aircraft approach data that indicated a high rate of TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) warnings at a particular airport. In these instances, she said, "data management adeptly identified a clearly measurable set of information and allowed for a relatively simple and effective solution."

However, Hersman noted, SMS works well for companies that are already "getting it right," but may provide little more than false confidence for companies with less than robust safety cultures.

Also, there are accidents caused by a combination of factors that SMS cannot possibly detect. As an example, Hersman mentioned the British Airways Boeing 777 crash at Heathrow Airport two years ago involving a dual engine failure on approach. It was not data analysis that solved the mystery, but detailed forensic analysis; the circumstances were so unusual that a data analysis system would not pick them up.