**GAO-10-414**                      Published: May 06, 2010. Publicly Released: Jun 10, 2010.                  

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## Highlights

To improve aviation safety, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to have in place the initial capabilities of a risk-based approach to safety oversight, known as a safety management system (SMS), by the end of fiscal year 2010. FAA is also implementing new procedures and technologies to enhance the safety, capacity, and efficiency of the national airspace system. Data are central to SMS and FAA's ability to test the impact of these changes on safety. This congressionally requested report addresses FAA's (1) current and planned use of data to oversee aviation safety, (2) access to data for monitoring aviation safety and the safety performance of various industry sectors, and (3) efforts to help ensure data quality. To perform this work, GAO reviewed 13 databases that contain data on key aviation safety events, assessed data quality controls for the databases, and interviewed agency and industry officials, as well as 10 experts in aviation safety and data.

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## GAO Contacts

Gerald L. Dillingham
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## Topics

Transportation

Air traffic control systemsAir transportationAircraftAircraft accidentsAircraft industryAircraft safetyAviationData collectionData integrityDatabasesInformation accessInformation managementInternal controlsMonitoringResearch and developmentRisk managementSafety regulationSafety standardsSystems analysisSystems designSystems managementTechnologyPolicies and procedures