NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

By: Kathy Barnstorff

For the seventh time Langley researchers are part of one of the most prestigious awards in aviation.

On May 28, the National Aeronautics Association will present the 2008 Robert J. Collier Trophy to the Commercial Aviation Safety Team -- or CAST -- an industry and government partnership that was established in 1997 with the goal of reducing the U.S. commercial aviation fatal accident rate by 80 percent in 10 years.

The 2008 winner, CAST, represents thousands of people in public agencies and private industry "who have worked diligently since 1997 to produce the safest commercial aviation system in the world," according to the Collier Trophy award nomination submitted by the Air Transport Association.

NASA Langley has had a role in work that has won the Robert J. Collier Trophy seven times, including two years in a row. NASA

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The nomination notes the partnership's original goal "was deemed as quite a stretch" if not impossible to achieve. However, the nomination points out, "the year 2008 topped the previous year as the safest year in commercial aviation history, and the CAST team is proud to report the risk in fatal commercial accidents has reduced by 83 percent."

NASA's Aviation Safety Program has been a part of CAST since the team was established. Executive Committee members include the director of the Aviation Safety Program in NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

"I'm very pleased that the Commercial Aviation Safety Team has been selected for this year's Collier Trophy," said the Aviation Safety Program director, Amy Pritchett. "NASA's Aviation Safety Program has been instrumental in CAST over its lifetime."

Researchers at four NASA field installations have worked with CAST, including employees at Langley; Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.; Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif.; and Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

CAST has analyzed data from some 500 accidents and thousands of safety incidents around the world. The idea was to use that information to come up with the most critical safety technologies, systems and procedures to reduce accident risk and ultimately save lives.

"NASA used some of its research and development dollars to develop tools and data capture capability," said George Finelli, the head of NASA's Aviation Safety Program from 2002 to 2006 and now the director of the Center Operations Directorate at NASA's Langley Research Center. "Those tools are now part of the Federal Aviation Administration's safety monitoring system. We tried to align our project activities, as much as possible, with the major CAST goals and areas of investigation, like runway incursion and aircraft icing."

"I think it's incredible that the National Aeronautics Association has recognized the CAST's efforts," added Finelli. "One of the things that made the team unique is that member organizations, including airlines, pilots and manufacturers, were volunteering to change what they did, instead of having to follow a mandate."

The person responsible for involving NASA in the Commercial Aviation Safety Team was Mike Lewis, the agency's first Aviation Safety Program manager. NASA's program was created in 1997 in response to a report from the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. Lewis, who was at Langley but now works in industry, saw NASA as a natural for CAST "because our program was also data driven, and we wanted to make sure our research and technology development priorities were in line with those of other government agencies and industry."

The Commercial Aviation Safety Team includes NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense, the European Aviation Safety Authority, the Transport Canada Civil Aviation, the Air Line Pilots Association, the Allied Pilots Association, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the Aerospace Industries Association of America Inc., the Air Transport Association of America Inc., the Regional Airline Association, Airbus, The Boeing Company, GE Aviation (representing all engine manufacturers), and the Flight Safety Foundation.

Awarded annually since 1911 for the greatest achievement in American aviation, the Collier Trophy is named for Robert J. Collier, a prominent publisher, patriot, sportsman and aviator. Here are the Collier awards in which Langley had a role:

1929 - National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) - For the development of low-drag cowling for radial air-cooled aircraft engines. Most of that work was done at Langley.
1946 - Lewis A. Rodert of Ames Aeronautical Laboratory for the development of an efficient wing de-icing system. Those studies began at Langley.
1947 - John Stack of Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory for research to determine the physical laws affecting supersonic flight. Lawrence D. Bell and Chuck Yeager also shared in this trophy for their work on supersonic flight.
1951 -John Stack and associates at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory for the development and use of the slotted-throat wind tunnel.
1954 - Richard Travis Whitcomb of Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory for the development of the Whitcomb area rule, according to the citation, a "powerful, simple, and useful method of reducing greatly the sharp increase in wing drag heretofore associated with transonic flight, and which constituted a major factor requiring great reserves of power to attain supersonic speeds."
2007 - Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast public and private team that worked over a dozen years to develop satellite-based air traffic control technology.
2008 - Commercial Aviation Safety Team.


 
NASA Langley Research Center
Managing Editor: Jim Hodges
Executive Editor and Responsible NASA Official: H. Keith Henry
Editor and Curator: Denise Lineberry