Captain. Examiner. Builder.
The story behind Monitored Approach.
I'm Dannick Schaap — a Captain and Type Rating Examiner at a European airline, and the founder of Monitored Approach.
I've spent years watching experienced aviation professionals — training captains, compliance managers, safety officers — burn time on tasks that should be automated. Digging through regulations. Manually updating training records. Preparing briefings from scattered sources. Checking aerodrome categorisations against AIP data by hand.
So I started building tools to fix it.
What I bring to this
Active Line Captain
I fly the same operations, under the same regulations, with the same constraints as the people I build for.
Type Rating Examiner
TRE/TRI credentials. I examine pilots and design training. I understand the training department from the inside.
AI Builder
I don't just advise — I build working automation. RAG systems, workflow tools, data pipelines. From concept to deployment.
Aviation Management
BSc Aviation Management, First Class Honours. Research that led to implemented fuel-saving recommendations at my airline.
The approach
The name "Monitored Approach" comes from aviation. During an instrument approach, one pilot flies while the other monitors — ready to intervene, but trusting the system to do its job. It's how critical operations work when the stakes are high.
That's how AI should work in regulated industries. The AI does the heavy lifting — searching regulations, processing data, flagging discrepancies. The expert monitors, validates, and decides. Human judgement stays in the loop. Always.
This isn't just a name I picked because it sounds good. It's EASA's own philosophy for AI in aviation. The AI Roadmap 2.0 and NPA 2025-07 both mandate human oversight of AI systems. Monitored Approach is literally the regulatory paradigm.
What you should know
I'm a solo founder building this alongside a flying career. I respond within 48 hours, sometimes between flights. I'm transparent about what I can and can't build. If something is outside my regulatory depth, I'll say so. In aviation, the most dangerous person is the one who won't admit uncertainty — I apply the same principle to this business.