[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 60 (Friday, March 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17638-17639]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-06960]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing Project
Demonstration for General Aviation (ASIAS for GA Project Demo)
AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: General statement of policy.
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SUMMARY: This document announces a one-year program to demonstrate the
capabilities of Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing
(ASIAS) for the general aviation community. The document also states
the FAA's policy concerning enforcement during this demonstration
program.
DATES: This Notice becomes effective on March 28, 2014. The ASIAS for
GA Project Demo expires one year after the date of publication of this
notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Corey Stephens, Federal Aviation
Administration, 800 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20591;
Telephone: (202) 493-4258 and [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
In recent years, the General Aviation (GA) community has
experienced little to no decrease in the number of fatal accidents over
the last five years. As a result, the Administrator has identified the
implementation of initiatives aimed at reducing GA fatal accidents as a
high priority. These initiatives include the work of the General
Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GA JSC) and bringing GA operations
into ASIAS.
Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS)
To promote an open exchange of safety information for the
continuous improvement of aviation safety, the FAA and the aviation
industry working in partnership developed ASIAS. ASIAS is a
collaborative information sharing program supported by the aviation
community to facilitate the proactive analysis of data from broad and
extensive sources for purposes of advancing safety initiatives and
discovering vulnerabilities in the air transportation system. The
sources of safety data range from public sector data that the FAA
collects to proprietary data that ASIAS participants voluntarily
submit. ASIAS enables the aviation community and the FAA to jointly
view different data sources and analyze the aggregate data. This allows
ASIAS participants to further analyze their own data and make
comparisons to industry norms. ASIAS benefits the FAA and the aviation
industry by enabling them to analyze and track accident precursors and
known safety hazards and to identify and track newly identified
operational risks.
The ASIAS community consists of the FAA and private sector
organizations such as corporate operators, airlines, manufacturers and
pilot associations. ASIAS participants currently provide de-identified
digital flight data and/or de-identified safety reports to ASIAS under
various agreements.
ASIAS is managed by a group of government and aviation industry
representatives through the ASIAS Executive Board (AEB). The AEB
oversees the ASIAS program, including policy and process development,
and approves all studies undertaken by ASIAS. The AEB established and
tasked a subcommittee known as the Issue Analysis Team (IAT) to perform
detailed analyses and effectiveness monitoring of specific safety
issues using aggregated
[[Page 17639]]
ASIAS data. The IAT submits de-identified study results to the AEB, and
the AEB determines how best to disseminate the results to the
appropriate stakeholders, including the GA JSC.
ASIAS for General Aviation
The GA JSC is reaching out to the GA community directly and through
several GA associations to educate pilots and other stakeholders on the
benefits of sharing collected safety data with ASIAS in a protected
non-punitive manner, in a manner similar to programs for commercial
aviation. In addition, the GA JSC continues its work to maximize safety
in GA operations. For example, to date, it has proposed 26 safety
interventions to address loss of control. However, analysis shows that
more comprehensive data sources from the GA community resulting from a
GA ASIAS data sharing program would improve understanding of
contributing factors to safety risks in the system.
Early in 2014, the steering committee will embark on a
demonstration to evaluate the value and benefits of ASIAS for the
broader GA community. One of the purposes of the demonstration will be
to allow the GA JSC to gain a better understanding of safety risks and
emerging threats for the GA community. The project will explore
potential new information sources such as General Aviation flight data
(recorded through avionics suites, data recorders and new common
technologies such as iOS and Android devices), voluntary safety
reports, and manufacturer reports.
ASIAS for GA Demonstration Project
The Administrator announced the GA ASIAS Demonstration Project at
the General Aviation Summit at FAA Headquarters on January 27, 2014.
The purpose of this demonstration project is to test the technical
ability to bring GA data into ASIAS. This project will also demonstrate
the value of ASIAS to the GA pilot community and industry
(associations, manufacturers, instructors, type clubs, etc.).
To fully demonstrate the ASIAS capabilities for GA, ASIAS needs to
collect safety information from voluntary safety reporting systems
(digital flight data from Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA)/
Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) programs, pilot and other safety reports,
etc.).
As part of the GA ASIAS Demonstration Project, pilots who
voluntarily submit their flight data will do so through the National
General Aviation Flight Information Database (NGAFID) which is
maintained by the University of North Dakota. Pilots who submit their
data will be able to review information for their own flights through
the NGAFID; however, a pilot may not access another pilot's data.
Additionally, the FAA will not have access to this data while it
contains information identifying a pilot.
De-identified data will be regularly transferred to ASIAS. In this
de-identified state, the data cannot be linked to the specific pilot,
aircraft, or flight. This de-identified data is then aggregated and
used by the ASIAS community for safety purposes only.
For the period of this project, data will be collected voluntarily
from the GA community in the area surrounding Phoenix, Arizona.
Volunteers who are based within a 40 nautical mile ring surrounding
KPHX will be sought to participate in the demonstration project.
Additional information can also be found at www.GAJSC.org.
Enforcement Policy
The ASIAS for GA Demonstration Project is an important safety
initiative and the FAA supports and encourages wide participation. This
document is issued in order to alleviate any concerns that any
voluntarily submitted data may be used for enforcement purposes. The
FAA recognizes that it is important to promote the voluntary submittal
of data during the demonstration project. Therefore, none of the data
that is being collected during this demonstration project will be
accessed or otherwise used for any enforcement activities.
Should an accident or incident occur involving a participant or
non-participant in the demonstration project, standard FAA policy for
accident or incident investigation will apply. Any data collected will
derive solely from routine investigation procedures. No data that is
voluntarily submitted in connection with the demonstration project will
be accessed for an accident or incident investigation.
The ASIAS for GA Demonstration Project will be in effect for one
year beginning on the date of publication of this notice.
Dated: Issued in Washington, DC on March 21, 2014.
Michael G. Whitaker,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2014-06960 Filed 3-27-14; 8:45 am]
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