Aviation Safety Reporting System
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The Aviation Safety Reporting System, or ASRS, is the US
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
's (FAA) voluntary
confidential reporting system A confidential incident reporting system is a mechanism which allows problems in safety-critical fields such as aviation and medicine to be reported in confidence. This allows events to be reported which otherwise might not be reported through fear ...
that allows pilots, air traffic controllers, cabin crew, dispatchers, maintenance technicians, ground operations, and UAS operators and drone flyers to confidentially report near misses or close call events in the interest of improving
aviation safety Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of airc ...
. The ASRS collects, analyzes, and responds to voluntarily submitted aviation safety incident reports in order to reduce the likelihood of aviation accidents. The ASRS was designed and is operated by
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
, who is seen as a neutral third-party due to its lack of enforcement authority and relations with airlines. The confidential and independent nature of the ASRS is key to its long-term success in identifying numerous latent system hazards in the National Airspace System (NAS). The FAA extends limited immunity to individual aviation workers for reporting safety events which do not result in an accident, as defined by the FAA. This has the effect of encouraging these potential reporters to come forward with systemic safety issues without fear of reprisal. The success of the system stands as a positive example used as a model by other industries seeking to make improvements in
safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...
. Other industries who have modeled similar systems on the ASRS include the rail, medical, firefighters, and off-shore petroleum production.


Reporting process

A notable feature of the ASRS is its confidentiality and immunity policy. Reporters may, but are not required to, submit their name and contact information. If the ASRS staff has questions regarding a report, it can perform a ''callback'' and request further information or clarification from the reporter. Once the staff is satisfied with the information received, the report is stripped of identifying information and assigned a report number. The part of the reporting form with contact information is detached and returned to the reporter. ASRS will issue ''alerts'' to relevant parties, such as airlines, air traffic controllers, manufacturers, and airport authorities if NASA considers the issue to be significant to improved aviation safety. The ASRS also publishes a monthly newsletter highlighting safety issues, and now has an online database of reports that is accessible by the public. This database makes a large body of de-identified reports available to safety researchers world-wide. In addition, the ASRS occasionally conducts special studies on topics of interest to researchers and regulators. These special studies are also made available on the ASRS website.


Immunity policy

The first government official to advocate the use of an immunity policy was Bobbie R. Allen, Director of the Civil Aeronautics Board. In 1966 - twelve years before ''ASRS'' was launched, Bobbie R. Allen, Director of the Bureau of Aviation Safety, was advocating the use of computers and the concept of non-punitive incident reporting. In a Nov 1966 speech at a Flight Safety Foundation seminar in Madrid, Allen stated: Often, reports are submitted because a rule was accidentally broken. The FAA's immunity policy encourages submission of all safety incidents and observations, especially information that could prevent a major accident, even if a violation occurs. If enforcement action is taken by the FAA against an accidental rule violation that did not result in an accident, a reporter can present their ASRS ID strip as proof that the incident was reported to NASA in the interest of aviation safety. Reporters do not have to share their report with the FAA and NASA will not share the report with the FAA. The FAA considers the submission of the report as evidence of a "constructive attitude" and will not impose a penalty. However, this immunity can only be exercised once every five years, though an unlimited number of reports can be filed.


Statistical validity

Due to the self-selected, or voluntary nature of the reports to the ASRS, NASA cautions against statistical use of the data they contain. On the other hand, they do express considerable confidence in the reliability of the reports submitted: :"However, the ASRS can say with certainty that its database provides definitive lower-bound estimates of the frequencies at which various types of aviation safety events actually occur. For example, 34,404 altitude overshoots were reported to the ASRS from January 1988 through December 1994. It can be confidently concluded that at least this number of overshoots occurred during the 1988-94 period--and probably many more. Often, such lower-bound estimates are all that decision makers need to determine that a problem exists and requires attention."


History

The need for a system of recording and cataloging aviation safety's institutional knowledge and shared history was apparent long before ASRS came to fruition. In testimony before the U.S. Senate on legislation proposing the
Federal Aviation Act of 1958 The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 was an act of the United States Congress, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, that created the Federal Aviation Agency (later the Federal Aviation Administration or the FAA) and abolished its predecessor, t ...
,
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
president William A. Patterson touched the concept: "On the positive side," said Mr. Patterson, "you take your statistics - and your records - and your exposures - and you act before the happening!“ Several years later, speaking before a Flight Safety Foundation International Air Safety Seminar in Madrid in November 1966, Bobbie R. Allen, the Director of the Bureau of Safety of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board, referred to the vast body of accumulated aviation safety incident information as a "sleeping giant." Noting that fear of legal liability and of regulatory or disciplinary action had prevented the dissemination of this information, rendering it valueless to those who might use it to combat hazards in the aviation system, Mr. Allen commented: See Aviation Safety Reporting System, Early History to view early letters, speeches and memos. According to the
National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...
, ASRS was first incepted in 1976 by Charles Billings.


References


External links

*
ASRS CALLBACK Newsletter
* ttp://www.37000feet.com/ 37000 Feet - Browse and search Aviation Safety Reporting System database {{authority control Aviation safety Aviation initiatives