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
• TRIS Online Accession Number:
  00747622
• NTL Classification:
  NTL-AVIATION-Aviation Safety/Airworthiness
• 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. 42p.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:b3d7691f508070e07bef4280a061864a7a93f180070c650bf23e50393690a741
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12741/dot_12741_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 140.03 KB ]