Wed, Dec 24, 2008
Former FAA Administrator Wants ASAP Back In Place ASAP
Aerospace Industries Association
president -- and former FAA administrator -- Marion Blakey weighed
in this week on a disturbing trend among US carriers,
the abandonment of voluntary safety reporting
programs.
Recent decisions by several US commercial airlines to
discontinue safety incident disclosure agreements, such as the
Aviation Safety Action Program, are troubling, and the parties
involved must put safety first and contractual disputes second,
Blakey (right) said.
"Programs like ASAP are vital tools in aviation safety and have
played a large role in making the last several years some of the
safest in history," Blakey said. "These programs should be
reinstated as soon as possible."
The voluntary agreements encourage pilots, mechanics,
controllers and others to report any incidents that concern the
safety of aircraft operation. ASAP has been extremely successful in
discovering and identifying safety issues before they lead to
accidents, Blakey said.
Programs like ASAP have been used by most airlines since the
1990s. When incident information is reported through a voluntary
program, it is analyzed by a team comprised of airline, union and
FAA representatives. The team looks for causes and trends and makes
recommendations to improve safety.
While this particular issue seems more relevant to Blakey's
former job than her current one, she did note AIA member companies
"enthusiastically support" programs like ASAP, and "urge airlines
and pilot groups to put them back into place without delay."
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