# Presentation: 496656

## FLIGHT OPERATIONAL QUALITY ASSURANCE

**FLIGHT OPERATIONAL QUALITY ASSURANCE**
**(FOQA)**

- Gary Davis
- Deputy Division Manager
- Air Transportation Division
- Flight Standards Service

- 4 May 1999

## FOQA Program History

- FAA Concept Development Study: FY95-98
- Provided U.S. airlines with guidance on how to establish effective FOQA programs
- Documented successes and safety benefits of U.S. airline trial FOQA programs
- FOQA program status at U.S. carriers:
- Four airlines started programs in 1995-98
- Two airlines have started programs in 1999
- Five airlines plan to initiate programs in 1999
- Four airlines have stated they plan to initiate at some future date
- At least 230 aircraft (13 fleets) are currently collecting FOQA data; additional 350 aircraft planned in 1999
- Estimated airline FOQA investment 1995-1998 ~$10M

## FOQA PROGAM BENEFITS FOR THE FAA  AND PUBLIC SAFETY

- Provides meaningful, manageable information that can be used to facilitate sound decision-making for both day-to-day operations and long-term planning  - Flight Operations  - Maintenance and Engineering  - Pilot training  - Safety
- Provides information on the national aviation system to allow the assessment of the safety and efficacy of the operational use of the national airspace
- Generates empirical data that can be used to evaluate new programs

**FOQA PROGAM BENEFITS FOR THE FAA**** **** AND PUBLIC SAFETY**

## The vast majority of information gained by FOQA cannot be found in any other way

- Periodic line checks conducted by check airmen cannot provide the same level of insight into daily operations as the continuous monitoring of FOQA data
- Provides objective and “actionable” data for all equipped flights
- E.G.: Average of 7.2 Mb of data is obtained per day for a 737-500 aircraft that has 329 parameters, resulting in 2.6 Gb of tailnumber specific data per year

**FOQA Serves As a Catalyst for Voluntary     Information Exchanges **

##             Voluntary Information Exchanges 

- If an airline's trends are out of the norm
- If anomaly is an isolated occurrence or one that has been previously detected by another carrier who may have already developed a solution
- If occurrence is a significant event that requires prompt decision-making and actions when combined with historical data
- Allow the confirmation of problem areas identified by flight crews through voluntary safety reporting programs

-             **Voluntary Information Exchanges **
**   ****(Continued)**

## FAA POLICY ON FOQA

-   FOQA is a voluntary safety initiative
-   Encouraging airline participation in FOQA is in the public interest
-   The FAA will refrain from use of FOQA information for enforcement except in egregious cases (those that do not meet the conditions for the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting Program)
-     - FAA Approved FOQA Program required
-     - Airlines must document procedures for taking corrective     action, when necessary in the interest of safety
-     - Airlines must provide FAA with access to aggregate trend data

## FAA Rulemaking Initiatives Pertinent to FOQA

-    FOQA Rule will codify:
-     - the extent to which protection is afforded from the use FOQA information as a basis for enforcement action
-     - the requirements for an FAA approved FOQA program
-     - the requirements for sharing aggregate FOQA data with the FAA
-    Safety Data Protection Rule will codify:
-     - the extent to which the FAA may decline to disclose voluntarily submitted safety related information to the public
-     - the manner in which such information may be designated as protected from public disclosure