U S Government Accountability Office

Aviation safety U S Government Accountability Office

To improve aviation safety, theFederal Aviation Administration(FAA) plans to have in place theinitial capabilities of a risk-basedapproach to safety oversight, known as a safety managementsystem (SMS), by the end of fiscalyear 2010. FAA is alsoimplementing new procedures andtechnologies to enhance the safety, capacity, and efficiency of thenational airspace system. Data arecentral to SMS and FAAs ability totest the impact of these changes onsafety. This congressionally requestedreport addresses FAAs (1) currentand planned use of data to overseeaviation safety, (2) access to datafor monitoring aviation safety andthe safety performance of variousindustry sectors, and (3) efforts tohelp ensure data quality. Toperform this work, GAO reviewed13 databases that contain data onkey aviation safety events, assesseddata quality controls for thedatabases, and interviewed agencyand industry officials, as well as 10experts in aviation safety and dat