Drucella Andersen Headquarters, Washington, D.C. July 16, 1991 (Phone: 202/453-2754) 2 P.M. EDT Donald James Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif. (Phone: 415/604-3935) RELEASE: 91-112 AVIATION SAFETY REPORTING SYSTEM CREATES SAFER SKIES The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) -- the world's most comprehensive aviation human factors data base -- has been preventing air accidents and saving lives for 15 years. More than 180,000 confidential reports of aviation incidents are contained in the ASRS database, which NASA manages for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This vast amount of information makes ASRS invaluable to air safety researchers in the federal government, the aviation community, academia and the public. The system has received more than 2,200 search requests to date. Just as important, ASRS actively identifies safety issues brought up by its reports and distributes that information to the aviation community. The program periodically puts out alerting messages. Recent alert topics included confusing airport taxiway markings, unexpected encounters of jet thrust while landing and confusion regarding barometric readings on international flights. ASRS also publishes CALLBACK, an easy-to-read, one-page newsletter that addresses timely safety concerns. CALLBACK has an estimated readership of 90,000 aviation professionals. During its 15-year history, ASRS has released more than 40 research reports and technical papers on aviation safety subjects. Most of the reports deal with human factors issues such as pilot fatigue, cockpit information transfer problems and aircrew distractions. - more - - 2 - "The most important product of ASRS is the constructive attitude that the system has developed in pilots, controllers and many others involved with aviation," said William Reynard, Director of ASRS at NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif. "The people who file reports reveal and discuss all types of situations they consider threats to aviation safety. The FAA asked NASA to administer the Aviation Safety Reporting System in 1975. The system formally began operations under NASA management on April 15, 1976. A civilian contractor, Battelle Memorial Institute's Columbus Laboratories in Mountain View, helps design and maintain the program. Reporters will not discuss their mistakes frankly if what they tell ASRS can be used against them. To overcome this barrier, the identities of ASRS reporters are strictly confidential (except when they report accidents and criminal events). During 15 years of operation, the ASRS has never revealed a reporter's identity. The FAA also assures reporters that ASRS filings, describing unintentional violations of Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), will not be used against them in administrative hearings. That guarantee is called "use immunity" and has been incorporated into the Code of Federal Regulations. To further encourage reporting, the FAA waives penalties for inadvertent FAR violations reported to the ASRS which it encounters through other means. This FAA "transactional immunity" policy, however, is subject to limitations to prevent abuse. Reports normally go to Battelle for evaluation. The contractor's analysts, each of whom is an expert in an aviation-related field, study the reports and decide if further contact with the reporter is needed. If so, they make such "callbacks" by phone. The analysts delete all identifying report information. The identification strip is removed and returned to the reporter. Appropriate substitutions replace individual, company or aircraft names and aircraft registration numbers. Analysts add a synopsis, comments and informal notes, then code the information to describe the reported incident. The package is subsequently transferred to magnetic tape and stored in the data base. -end-