I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8403 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to better 

integrate human factors into the aircraft certification process through 

the deployment of necessary enhancements to improve aviation safety, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to better integrate human factors into the aircraft certification process through the deployment of necessary enhancements to improve aviation safety, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Factors Im5 provements to the Aircraft Certification Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HUMAN FACTORS. 

7 (a) AIRCRAFT CERTIFICATION PROCESS.— 


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1 (1) EVALUATION.—Not later than 18 months 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis3 trator (acting through the Associate Administrator 

4 for Aviation Safety of the Administration) shall— 

5 (A) conduct an evaluation of the develop6 ment of tools and methods to support the inte7 gration of human factors assessment and sys8 tem safety assessments of human interaction 

9 with flight deck and flight control systems for 

10 transport airplanes into the aircraft certifi11 cation process under section 44704 of title 49, 

12 United States Code; and 

13 (B) develop a framework to better inte14 grate human factors throughout such aircraft 

15 certification process with the objective of im16 proving safety by designing systems and train17 ing pilots in a manner that accounts for con18 temporary knowledge to reduce the possibility 

19 of an accident resulting in whole or in part 

20 from the pilot’s interaction with the aircraft. 

21 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 

22 days after the completion of the evaluation required 

23 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall submit 

24 to Congress a report detailing the findings of such 


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1 report and a plan for implementation based on such 

2 findings of such report. 

3 (3) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon submission of 

4 the report required under paragraph (2), the Admin5 istrator shall implement the findings of such evalua6 tion. 

7 (b) HUMAN FACTORS EDUCATION PROGRAM.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall de9 velop a human factors education program that ad10 dresses the effects of modern flight deck systems, in11 cluding automated systems, on human performance 

12 for transport airplanes and the approaches for better 

13 integration of human factors in aircraft design and 

14 certification. 

15 (2) TARGET AUDIENCE.—The human factors 

16 education program shall be integrated into the train17 ing protocol in existence as of the date of the enact18 ment of this Act such that such program is routinely 

19 administered to the following: 

20 (A) Appropriate employees within the 

21 Flight Standards Service. 

22 (B) Appropriate employees within the Air23 craft Certification Service. 


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1 (C) Other employees or authorized rep2 resentatives determined to be necessary by the 

3 Administrator. 

4 (c) TRANSPORT AIRPLANE MANUFACTURER INFOR5 MATION SHARING.—The Administrator shall— 

6 (1) require each transport airplane manufac7 turer to provide the Administrator with the informa8 tion or findings necessary for flight crew to be 

9 trained on flight deck systems; 

10 (2) ensure the information or findings under 

11 paragraph (1) adequately includes consideration of 

12 human factors; and 

13 (3) ensure that each transport airplane manu14 facturer identifies any technical basis, justification 

15 or rationale for the information and findings under 

16 paragraph (1). 

17 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

18 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra19 tion’’ means the Federal Aviation Administration. 

20 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis21 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

22 Aviation Administration. 

23 (3) HUMAN FACTORS.—The term ‘‘human fac24 tors’’ means a multidisciplinary set of principles de25 veloped to holistically explain and predict pilot beVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8403.IH H8403

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1 havior in relation to the management of the oper2 ation of an aircraft, including the pilot’s manage3 ment of aircraft systems and response to systems 

4 failures and non-normal conditions. 

5 (4) TRANSPORT AIRPLANE.—The term ‘‘trans6 port airplane’’ means a transport-category airplane 

7 designed for operation by an air carrier or foreign 

8 air carrier type-certificated with a passenger seating 

9 capacity of 30 or more or an all-cargo derivative of 

10 such an airplane. 

11 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 

13 to carry out this section. 

Æ 


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