Aviation Safety: Efforts to Implement Flight Operational Quality Assurance Programs

Details

• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Government Accountability Office
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Aviation Safety Black Boxes Flight Analysis Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) Programs Flight Reconstructions Flight Recorders Quality Assurance Safety Programs
• Publication/ Report Number:
  GAO/RCED-98-10
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/1403120
• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Government Accountability Office
• Abstract:
  Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) programs seek to use flight data to detect technical flaws, unsafe practices, or conditions outside of desired operating procedures early enough to allow timely intervention to avert accidents or incidents. These programs are voluntary efforts by airlines that involve equipping aircraft with specialized devices to continuously record up to hundreds of different flight data parameters from aircraft systems and sensors, analyzing the data, identifying trends, and taking action to correct potential problems. The analysis of flight data allows airlines to reconstruct entire flights on the basis of the values over time of flight data parameters, such as heading, altitude, throttle settings, ground speed, and many others. At the time of this report, about 33 foreign airlines and 4 U.S. airlines-United, US Airways, Continental, and Alaska-have implemented FOQA or FOQA-type programs. This report examines (1) how FOQA programs will enhance aviation safety, (2) the costs and benefits of such programs, and (3) the factors that could impede their full implementation and actions that could be taken to overcome any impediments.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c0f0958aeb489bc9c3ca5d994ee2a06ddd1900e19a8e963a7d090aa70e9bc96beeba48109d9f4b5a17459a9d253e6ecbeeec54429c733e3e696a85c6163757c7
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12741/dot_12741_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 140.03 KB ]