ASRS: Safe Protections

The Aviation Safety Reporting System, ASRS, is a means of confidentially and anonymously reporting unsafe conditions-including your own actions-in aviation, generally without fear of FAA enforcement. Most of us are at least somewhat aware of the ASRS program, but few of us really understand how it works. This is an important program that is of benefit to aviation at large and potentially to us individually, so we should all understand what the ASRS system is, what it can do for us, and how to use it.

Fred Simonds

Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is a confidential, non-punitive program run by NASA, allowing aviation professionals to voluntarily report unsafe conditions and incidents to identify systemic safety issues and prevent future accidents.
Filing a timely ASRS report (within 10 days of an incident) can provide immunity from FAA enforcement actions for minor regulatory violations, serving as a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for the reporter.
The system ensures strict anonymity by stripping identifying information from reports, contributing to a vast database that informs FAA policy, resolves issues, and enhances overall aviation safety.

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The Aviation Safety Reporting System, ASRS, is a means of confidentially and anonymously reporting unsafe conditions—including your own actions—in aviation, generally without fear of FAA enforcement. Most of us are at least somewhat aware of the ASRS program, but few of us really understand how it works. This is an important program that is of benefit to aviation at large and potentially to us individually, so we should all understand what the ASRS system is, what it can do for us, and how to use it.

Detecting Unsafe Patterns

The catalyst for developing ASRS was—as is often the case—a tragic, preventable accident. On December 1, 1974, TWA 514 was inbound to Dulles Airport in IMC and turbulence. The crew misunderstood an ATC clearance they thought permitted them to descend to 1800 feet. However, that altitude was for the next approach segment, not their current segment. The Boeing 727 crashed into Mt. Weather with no survivors.