I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6850 
To improve technology and address human factors in aviation safety, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2023 
Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. TITUS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To improve technology and address human factors in aviation 
safety, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Landings Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Given that the United States enjoys an ex-
ceptionally safe aviation system with an exceedingly 
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low frequency of airline accidents, efforts to improve 
aviation safety should examine nonaccident safety 
incidents for all possible insights. 
(2) Aviation safety should not be taken for 
granted, and even with so few accidents, the U.S. 
Aerospace System should proactively address safety 
concerns that emerge from our dynamic and evolving 
economic conditions, technology, aviation industry, 
and other factors. 
(3) Preventing accidents from occurring in the 
airport runway environment remains an objective re-
quiring continued effort, and incidents of runway 
confusion, defined as the subset of runway incur-
sions in which an aircraft unintentionally takes off 
or lands on a taxiway or incorrect runway, should be 
carefully monitored, reviewed, and studied for in-
sights to improve safety. 
(4) While technology continues to advance and 
new opportunities to use technology to address safe-
ty risks in aviation are examined and pursued, the 
evolving role of technology and the expanding use of 
automation should not be used as justification to di-
minish attention to and prioritization of the human 
contribution to aviation safety. The aviation industry 
and the Government must ensure that training pro-
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grams for flight crews and other personnel are ap-
propriately evolving, that training standards and ex-
pectations remain rigorous, and that risks and con-
cerns associated with the interaction between hu-
mans, technology, and automated systems are identi-
fied, studied, and addressed in a timely manner. 
SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS. 
(a) NTSB RECOMMENDATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall im-
plement the recommendation of the National Trans-
portation Safety Board numbered as A–18–25 and 
issued on October 11, 2018, and, not later than 1 
year after the enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator shall issue to Congress a report on the status 
of the implementation. 
(2) CONSIDERATION.—In implementing this 
recommendation, the Administrator shall consider 
any relevant findings identified pursuant to section 
334 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Pub-
lic Law 115–254). 
(b) PILOT ALERTS.—The Administrator shall— 
(1) collaborate with aircraft and avionics manu-
facturers, labor organizations representing pilots op-
erating under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations, and software developers to develop the 
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technology for a cockpit system that provides an 
alert to pilots when an airplane is not aligned with 
the intended runway surface; 
(2) once such technology described in para-
graph (1) is available, establish a requirement for 
the technology to be installed on aircraft operating 
under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, landing at airports within Class B and Class 
C airspace and certified under part 139 of title 14, 
Code of Federal Regulations; 
(3) in establishing the requirement as described 
in paragraph (2), consider any relevant findings 
identified pursuant to section 334 of the FAA Reau-
thorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254); and 
(4) not later than 1 year after the date of en-
actment of this Act, issue to Congress a report on 
the progress of the work described in paragraph (1). 
SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS FOR COVERED EVENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Once implementation of section 
3(a) of this Act is complete, the National Transportation 
Safety Board may initiate investigations of covered events 
to determine risk factors specific to the airport at which 
such an event occurred and other elements of the National 
Airspace System that may contribute to the cause of the 
event. The National Transportation Safety Board may 
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also elect to consider multiple events in a single report 
as part of a special investigation or study to examine safe-
ty factors contributing to these events. 
(b) CONTENT.—The review and analysis shall exam-
ine factors present at the time of any covered event at 
such airport, including— 
(1) challenges pilots perceive when flying into 
and out of the airport; 
(2) challenges that air traffic controllers face 
when working at the airport; 
(3) characteristics of the communications 
among and between groups of personnel whose work 
relates to the movement of aircraft into and out of 
the airport including pilots, air traffic controllers, 
maintenance workers, dispatchers, and airline air-
port operations personnel; and 
(4) physical characteristics of the airport and 
its facilities, such as the configuration of runways, 
taxiways, runway lighting, and construction activity. 
(c) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—Individuals in-
volved in any manner in an investigation described in this 
section may request that the Board take such action as 
appropriate to protect from public disclosure any informa-
tion that readily identifies such individual. The Board may 
withhold the information if the Board determines that the 
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information may be withheld under an exemption under 
section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and the publica-
tion of such information is not in the public interest. 
SEC. 5. STUDY ON HUMAN FACTORS AND AVIATION SAFETY. 
(a) IN
GENERAL.—The National Academies of 
Science, Engineering, and Medicine shall, in collaboration 
with other relevant Federal institutions and agencies, con-
duct a study on the role of human factors in high-risk 
professions, including aviation. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the National Academies shall 
submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure and Committee on Education and Workforce of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate a 
report on the results of the study required under sub-
section (a), including best practices that can be imple-
mented across all high-risk professions, including within 
the aviation industry, to reduce risk involved with human 
factors. 
SEC. 6. TASK FORCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN AVIATION 
SAFETY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 
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Federal Aviation Administration shall convene a task force 
on human factors in aviation safety (in this section re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 
(b) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall consist of 
members appointed by the Administrator and having ex-
pertise in an operational or academic discipline that is rel-
evant to the analysis of human errors in aviation. The 
number of members shall be determined by the Adminis-
trator to ensure sufficient representation of relevant oper-
ational and academic disciplines. 
(c) DURATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Task Force 
shall be appointed for the length of the existence of 
the Task Force. 
(2) LENGTH OF EXISTENCE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall 
have an initial length of existence of 2 years. 
(B) OPTION.—The Administrator may ex-
ercise an option to lengthen the duration of the 
existence of the Task Force for a period of 2 
years. 
(d) DISCIPLINES.—For purposes of subsection (b), 
disciplines may include air carrier operations, line pilot ex-
pertise, air traffic control, technical operations, aero-
nautical information, aircraft maintenance and mechanics 
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psychology, linguistics, human-machine integration, gen-
eral aviation operations, and organizational behavior and 
culture. 
(e) EXPERTISE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—No less than half of the 
members shall have expertise in aviation. 
(2) ADDITIONAL EXPERTISE.—The Task Force 
shall include members with expertise on human fac-
tors but whose experience and training are not in 
aviation specifically and who have not previously 
been engaged in work related to the Federal Avia-
tion Administration or the aviation industry. The 
Task Force shall also include pilot labor organiza-
tions, certificated mechanic labor organizations, and 
the exclusive bargaining representative of the air 
traffic controllers certified under section 7111 of 
title 5, United States Code. 
(f) FEDERAL
AVIATION
ADMINISTRATION
MEM-
BERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 4 members 
may be employees of the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration and National Transportation Safety Board, 
excluding representatives of the labor representatives 
of employees of the air traffic control system. Not 
more than 2 members may be employees of the Na-
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tional Transportation Safety Board. The Federal 
Aviation Administration and the National Transpor-
tation Safety Board members shall be non-voting. 
(2) FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION EM-
PLOYEES.—Any member who is an Federal Aviation 
Administration employee shall have expertise in safe-
ty. 
(g) DUTIES.—In coordination with the Research, En-
gineering, and Development Advisory Committee estab-
lished under section 44508 of title 49, United States Code, 
the Task Force shall— 
(1) not later than the date on which the Task 
Force is no longer in existence, produce a written re-
port that— 
(A) to the greatest extent possible, identi-
fies the most significant human factors and the 
relative contribution of such factors to aviation 
safety risk; 
(B) identifies new research priorities for 
research in human factors in aviation safety; 
(C) reviews existing products by other 
working groups related to human factors in 
aviation safety including the Commercial Avia-
tion Safety Team (CAST)’s work pertaining to 
flight crew responses to abnormal events; 
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(D) provides recommendations on potential 
revisions to any Federal Aviation Administra-
tion regulations and guidance pertaining to the 
certification of aircraft under part 25 of title 
14, Code of Federal Regulations, including sec-
tions related to presumed pilot response times 
and assumptions about the reliability of pilot 
performance 
during 
unexpected, 
stressful 
events; 
(E) reviews rules, regulations, or standards 
regarding flight crew rest and fatigue, as well 
as maintenance personnel rest and fatigue, that 
are used by a sample of international air car-
riers, including those deemed to be more strin-
gent and less stringent than the current stand-
ards pertaining to United States air carriers, 
and identify risks to the National Airspace Sys-
tem from any such variation in standards 
across countries; 
(F) reviews pilot training requirements and 
recommend any revisions necessary to ensure 
adequate understanding of automated systems 
on aircraft; 
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(G) reviews approach and landing mis-
alignment and make any recommendations for 
improving these events; 
(H) identifies ways to enhance instrument 
landing system maintenance schedules as well 
as other relevant technology systems that facili-
tate safe landings that are jointly used by air 
traffic controllers, pilots, and Federal Aviation 
Administration technicians, determines how a 
real-time smart system should be developed that 
informs the Air Traffic Control System, Air-
lines, and Airports about any changes in the 
state of runway and taxiway lights, and identi-
fies how this system could be connected to the 
Federal Aviation Administration’s maintenance 
system; 
(I) analyzes, with respect to human errors 
related to aviation safety of part 121 air car-
riers— 
(i) fatigue and distraction during crit-
ical phases of work among pilots or other 
aviation personnel; 
(ii) tasks and workload; 
(iii) organizational culture; 
(iv) communication among personnel; 
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(v) adherence to safety procedures; 
(vi) mental fitness of personnel; and 
(vii) any other relevant factors that 
affect human performance or are the cause 
or potential cause of human error related 
to aviation safety; 
(J) includes a tabulation of the number of 
accidents, incidents, or aviation safety database 
entries received in which an item identified 
under subparagraph (I) was a cause or poten-
tial cause of human error related to aviation 
safety; and 
(K) includes a list of causes or potential 
causes of human error related to aviation safety 
about which the Administrator believes addi-
tional information is needed; and 
(2) if the Secretary exercises the option de-
scribed in subsection (c)(2)(B), not later than the 
date that is 2 years after the date of establishment 
of the Task Force, produce an interim report con-
taining the information described in paragraph (1). 
(h) METHODOLOGY.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—To complete the report 
under subparagraphs (I) through (K) of subsection 
(g)(1), the Task Force shall consult with the Na-
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tional Transportation Safety Board and use all 
available data compiled and analysis conducted on 
safety incidents and irregularities collected during 
the relevant fiscal years from the following: 
(A) Flight Operations Quality Assurance. 
(B) Aviation Safety Action Program. 
(C) Aviation Safety Information Analysis 
and Sharing. 
(D) The Aviation Safety Reporting Sys-
tem. 
(E) Aviation safety recommendations and 
investigation findings of the National Transpor-
tation Safety Board. 
(F) Other relevant programs or sources. 
(2) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The Task 
Force shall ensure that any data described in para-
graph (1) has strong protections to protect employ-
ees from data being used to undertake punitive 
measures against the employee or personal liability. 
(i) APPLICABLE LAW.—Section 1013 of title 5, 
United States Code, shall not apply to the Task Force. 
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SEC. 7. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ON NEW 
APPROACHES TO DATA ANALYSIS FOR AVIA-
TION SAFETY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 
new research and development program to be undertaken 
by the FAA’s Consortium in Aviation Operations Research 
(NEXTOR III) to investigate and develop new approaches 
to data analysis for understanding the factors in aviation 
safety incidents and identifying emerging risks of future 
safety incidents. 
(b) APPROACHES.—The approaches described in sub-
section (a) include the use of new algorithms for analyzing 
the text and audio of communications between flight crews 
and air traffic controllers and the use of machine learning 
or artificial intelligence methods for analyzing a variety 
of data sets, including, data on weather, performance of 
communication, navigation and surveillance equipment 
and facilities, flight delays, safety incidents, flight crew 
work schedules, and air traffic and crew member commu-
nications for detecting anomalies in the National Airspace 
System. 
(c) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out the research 
program established in this section, member institutions 
of the Consortium shall collaborate in the sharing of data 
for the purpose of testing and demonstrating the potential 
effectiveness of new approaches to analysis— 
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(1) with each other; 
(2) with aviation industry partners; 
(3) with units within the FAA including groups 
within the Air Traffic Organization, NextGen Office, 
Office of Airports, and Aviation Safety; and 
(4) with the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration’s Aviation Safety Reporting System. 
(d) RESEARCH.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The research undertaken 
pursuant to this section shall prioritize under-
standing the ways that various forms of human fac-
tors contribute to aviation safety risk. 
(2) FACTORS.—The factors described in para-
graph (1) may include fatigue and distraction during 
critical phases of work among pilots or other avia-
tion personnel, tasks and workload, organizational 
structure and culture, communication among per-
sonnel, adherence to safety procedures, and any 
other relevant factors that are the cause or potential 
cause of human error in aviation operations. 
(3) HIGHLY AUTOMATED AIRCRAFT.—Research 
should seek ways to improve the design of highly 
automated aircraft to reduce instances of mode con-
fusion and to combat problems of reduced awareness 
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of basic flight parameters resulting from compla-
cency about automated systems. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for carrying 
out the program described in this section for each fiscal 
year from 2024 through 2029, including grants to partici-
pating research institutions, including the academic insti-
tutions that make up the FAA’s Consortium in Aviation 
Operations Research (NEXTOR III), the National Aero-
nautics and Space Administration, the FAA’s Office of 
Safety, the NextGen office, and units within the FAA’s 
Air Traffic Organization that work on safety issues. 
(f) SUNSET.—The program shall terminate on the 
date that is 6 years after the date on which the program 
is established. 
SEC. 8. USING INSTRUMENT APPROACH PROCEDURES AS 
BACKUPS TO VISUAL APPROACHES. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue a 
report to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate that uses a representative sample of part 121 and 
part 129 air carriers to review the current range of air 
carrier practices in requiring the use of instrument ap-
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proach procedures as a backup system for visual ap-
proaches and the extent to which operators require pilots 
to use approach procedures. 
(b) ISSUANCE OF GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall review and analyze the collected data from the report 
described in subsection (a) and issue guidance to air car-
riers on the most effective techniques and procedures to 
use instrument approach procedures as a backup system 
for visual approaches. Such guidance shall encourage the 
use of instruments to provide vertical and lateral guidance 
to mitigate the potential for a wrong surface alignment 
and to provide flight crews with more precise vertical and 
lateral deviation information. 
SEC. 9. NOTAM MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE. 
Section 2(c) of the NOTAM improvement Act of 
2023 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 
inserting a semicolon; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-
graph (5); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(4) collaborating with avionics manufacturers 
and software developers in considering hardware and 
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software for sending, assessing, and displaying 
NOTAMs; and’’. 
SEC. 10. GAO STUDY ON RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE 
OF CVR DATA IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 
take the lead in carrying out a study on the risks associ-
ated with the use of CVR data in investigations led by 
foreign governments or units of foreign governments. 
(b) CONTENTS.—At minimum, this study shall— 
(1) review past incidents in which CVR data 
was used by foreign governments or units of foreign 
governments in such a way that the National Trans-
portation Safety Board found to depart from the 
National Transportation Safety Board’s standards 
and procedures for a safety investigation, including 
the use or circulation of CVR data for purposes 
other than determining the causes of an accident or 
safety incident, inappropriate release of data con-
tained on a CVR, or the dissemination of informa-
tion or conclusions based on a misinterpretation of 
data contained on a CVR; 
(2) document the protections provided for cock-
pit voice recordings and transcripts by ICAO and 
other countries where United States-based air car-
riers operate; 
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(3) identify and assess the risks to United 
States flight crews, air carriers, manufacturers, and 
other stakeholders in the aviation industry associ-
ated with CVRs capable of recording more than 2 
hours of data; and 
(4) provide recommendations on measures to 
adopt to mitigate against such risks and ensure that 
any use of CVR data serves the sole purpose of a 
safety investigation, including recommendations for 
the United States to make to ICAO to mitigate 
these risks. 
SEC. 11. TRANSPARENCY IN AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE AND 
REPAIR WORK. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall up-
date the guidelines of the FAA for part 121 certificate 
holders in implementing a Continuing Analysis and Sur-
veillance System (CASS) for their air carrier maintenance 
programs to include reporting no less than once every 6 
months by certificate holders to the FAA of any failure 
to follow procedures in aircraft maintenance as well as any 
major alteration, complete overhaul, or repair of mechan-
ical irregularities of each airframe, engine, propeller, and 
appliance. 
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(b) ADVISORY.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall issue an 
advisory with formatting guidelines for air carriers to re-
port information as required under subsection (a). 
(c) INCLUSION.—For each instance of a failure to fol-
low procedures and for each major alteration, overhaul, 
or repair reported under the requirements of this section, 
the Administrator shall require certificate holders to in-
clude any name and any physical address where the work 
is carried out for each maintenance provider that performs 
work. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘major 
alterations’’, ‘‘airframe’’, ‘‘propeller’’, and ‘‘appliance’’ 
have the meanings given such terms in part 1 of title 14, 
Code of Federal Regulations. 
SEC. 12. REVIEW OF FAA’S AVIATION SAFETY INSPECTION 
PROGRAM. 
(a) AUDIT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPOR-
TATION INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector Gen-
eral of the Department of Transportation shall initiate a 
review of the FAA’s August 2017 Flight Standards reor-
ganization and its aviation safety inspection program. 
(b) REVIEW.—The review shall include an evaluation 
of— 
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(1) the FAA Flight Standards reorganization 
from a geographic-based system to a functional- 
based system; 
(2) the implementation of the FAA’s Compli-
ance Philosophy as it relates to safety inspections 
and enforcements; 
(3) the FAA’s oversight system known as the 
Safety Assurance System (SAS); 
(4) training for aviation safety inspector and 
operational research analysts on the Compliance 
Philosophy and SAS; and 
(5) the impact of the FAA’s reorganization and 
SAS on the FAA’s ability to produce reliable esti-
mates of aviation safety inspector and operational 
research analyst staffing needs. 
(c) REPORT.—The Inspector General shall submit to 
the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 
on the results of its review and any recommendations to 
improve the aviation safety inspection program of the 
FAA. 
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SEC. 13. REVIEW OF ICAO BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES 
AND STANDARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall conduct 
a study on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s 
best available technologies and standards. 
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 
shall submit to Congress a report containing the timeline 
for the Federal Aviation Administrator to adopt the best 
available technologies and standards studied under sub-
section (a) and, if the Administrator determines the Ad-
ministrator will not adopt any such technologies or stand-
ards, a justification as to the reason for not adopting. 
SEC. 14. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS AUDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the inspector general of the 
Department of Transportation shall conduct an audit of— 
(1) existing whistleblower protections and 
standards and practices in place for the aviation in-
dustry; and 
(2) the whistleblower program of the Federal 
Aviation Administration, including how such pro-
gram has evolved since the most recent audit by the 
inspector general and whether there are any short-
comings or challenges for the program. 
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the publi-
cation of the results of the audit under subsection (a), the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 
shall submit to the relevant committees of jurisdiction of 
Congress a report on the implementation plan for any rec-
ommendations from such audit and any reasons for not 
implementing any recommendation for which the Adminis-
trator will not implement. 
SEC. 15. TWO PILOT RULE. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration shall issue such regulations as are necessary 
to require that all part 121 air carriers providing air 
transportation of passengers or cargo require a minimum 
of 2 pilots in the cockpit for any flight carrying such pas-
sengers or cargo. 
SEC. 16. FLIGHT SAFETY INFORMATION PROTECTION. 
Section 40123 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) FLIGHT SAFETY INFORMATION PROTECTION.— 
The Administrator may not disclose under this section 
flight safety information, including flight safety informa-
tion voluntarily reported by Federal Aviation Administra-
tion employees, and data provided from flight data record-
ers, service difficulty recorders, accident and incident data 
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systems, airline required crew narrative reports and sum-
maries, ADS–B, aircraft communication addressing and 
reporting systems, and ATC voice communications and re-
corded radar data.’’. 
SEC. 17. KNOWLEDGE SAFETY EXPERTS. 
The Administrator shall take such actions as are nec-
essary to ensure that any advisory committee of the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration that provides recommenda-
tions on topics that relate to or impact the safety of pas-
sengers, aircraft, crew members, ground crew, airports, or 
any other safety aspect have representation from knowl-
edge safety experts in addition to representation from 
trade industry experts. 
SEC. 18. TRANSPARENCY IN AVIATION INDUSTRY. 
The Administrator shall take such actions as are nec-
essary to ensure that air carriers and other persons pro-
viding air transportation are prohibited from hiding infor-
mation determined to be important by the Administrator 
in any investigation regarding aircraft incidents, including 
incidents that result in death or injury. 
SEC. 19. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration. 
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