Don Nolan-Proxmire
Headquarters, Washington, DC                    June 13, 1995
(Phone:  202/358-1983)

RELEASE:  95-91

NASA JOINS FAA AND DOD IN HUMAN FACTORS RESEARCH

     NASA has joined with the Federal Aviation Administration 
(FAA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) in a comprehensive 
initiative to apply human factors research to the National 
Airspace System.  The plan represents an all encompassing 
national commitment to making the system safer and less 
complicated for the people who use it.

     "NASA is proud to work with the FAA and the Department 
of Defense in an effort to improve safety in commercial 
aviation," said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin.  "Since 
1976, NASA has managed the Aviation Safety Reporting System for 
the FAA.  Aviation incidents reported voluntarily and confidentially 
by pilots, air traffic controllers and others are combined to form 
the world's most comprehensive aviation human factors database," 
he added.

     The action plan titled, "The National Plan for Civil 
Aviation Human Factors", is compatible with Vice President 
Albert Gore's National Science and Technology Council.  The 
Council outlines a coordinated national agenda to address one 
of the principle goals established at the Department of 
Transportation's industry-wide Safety Conference last 
January:  to eliminate accidents and incidents attributed to 
human error.

     In spite of the success of more sophisticated and 
reliable technology, the proportion of human error-related 
accidents is still as high as 60 to 80 percent.

    The initiative will bring research results to the 
operational community.  Additionally the plan has three main 
goals:  identifying operational needs and problems involving 
human performance; guiding research programs which address 
the human factor; and eliciting the participation of the 
nation's top scientists and aviation professionals in 
government, private industry and universities.

     The plan provides for sharing of research results among 
the participating government agencies and the private sector 
to increase the speed and efficiency by which new concepts in 
human performance can be tested, validated and incorporated 
into the national aviation system.

                         -end-

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