In addition to the value of lost lives that cannot be calculated, the cost of the lost aircraft is increasing. To understand SD as a contributing factor requires an information-based approach. There is a lot of SD information today, the product of decades of accidents, incidents, and research. SD is related to flight operations, systems development, training and educating, system acquisition, research, and accident investigation. But a common problem is often gaining easy access to the SD-related information.
Access is difficult due to ineffective organization.
Available sources of information are often not current. Available information may not be related to the user's problem or presented in a form that is easily usable. Information technology tools have not been widely applied. There is no formal plan for systematic growth and improvement. Our goal is to reduce SD-related loss of personnel and aircraft by substantially improving the knowledge base.