The FAA’s Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) Program has over the past 11 years used an open exchange of operational data to continuously improve safety. The General Aviation Joint Steering committee, for example, uses operations data to identify risks, develop recommended risk mitigation measures and evaluate the effectiveness of implemented solutions.
The NBAA says eighty-eight business aircraft operators, 47 Part 121 airlines, 12 universities, five manufacturers and two maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations participate in the program. The FAA plans to phase in more business aviation and light general aviation operators, as well as the helicopter industry. The association’s Safety Committee recognized the importance of safety data sharing by including it in its Top Safety Focus Areas of 2019.
ASIAS is a data repository of more than a dozen public and proprietary data sources, including, but not limited to, ASAP (Aviation Safety Action Program) and ASRS (Aviation Safety Reporting System through NASA), as well as proprietary system narrative safety reports. There’s also FOQA (Flight Operational Quality Assurance) and FOQA-like flight operations data, NMAC (Near Mid-Air Collision reports) and other ATC narrative safety reports, followed by SDR (Service Difficulty Reports) and aeronautical facility (airport and heliport) information. The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) and airline-oriented corollary Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) are also integral components to ASIAS.
NBAA believes, “Data sharing is an important way to benefit the community broadly and to learn lessons from other aviation organizations and encourages members to participate in safety data sharing programs, whether through providing narrative safety reports, FOQA or FOQA-like data, or other means.”
