(A) summarizes new research developments 
on human factors in aviation safety; 
(B) to the greatest extent possible, identi-
fies the most significant human factors and 
their relative contribution to aviation safety 
risk; and 
(C) provides any recommendations for pol-
icy or regulatory action; and 
(3) 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) APPLICABLE LAW.—The Federal Advisory Com-
mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Task 
Force. 
SEC. 6. 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 II) to investigate and develop new approaches 
to data analysis for understanding the factors in aviation 
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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— 
(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. 
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(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 
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 2019 through 2024, including grants to partici-
pating research institutions, including the academic insti-
tutions that make up the FAA’s Consortium in Aviation 
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Operations Research, the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, the FAA’s Office of Safety, the NextGen 
office, and units within the FAA’s Air Traffic Organiza-
tion 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. 7. 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-
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 
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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. 8. NOTAM MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall lead an 
effort to reform and update the ‘‘notices to airmen’’ 
(NOTAM) system to harmonize with International Civil 
Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annexes and Standards 
and Recommended Practices (SARPS), including the ex-
isting methods of writing, formatting, and disseminating 
information under this system, for the purposes of improv-
ing these notices’ clarity, user-friendliness, and effective-
ness in conveying priority, safety-related concerns. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this initiative, 
the Administrator shall— 
(1) collaborate with airlines and labor organiza-
tions representing pilots operating under part 121 of 
title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, organizations 
representing general aviation, air traffic controllers, 
airport operations personnel, and the military on de-
veloping recommendations for improving the user- 
friendliness of the content, style, and formatting of 
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NOTAMs, including any changes to existing conven-
tions for such items as abbreviations, punctuation, 
font, and font size; 
(2) collaborate with avionics manufacturers and 
software developers in considering hardware and 
software options for sending, accessing, and dis-
playing NOTAMs; and 
(3) take appropriate actions within the Inter-
national Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to 
adopt recommended standards on the writing, for-
matting, and disseminating of NOTAMs. 
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator shall 
issue a report to Congress not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and no less than every 6 
months thereafter, until new standards for the writing, 
formatting, and dissemination of NOTAMs have been 
adopted by the FAA. This report shall include an update 
on the progress of the work described in this section, in-
cluding an explanation of how any new recommendations 
that have been developed will improve safety and an expla-
nation of any obstacles remaining to achieving consensus 
for new international standards for the NOTAM system. 
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SEC. 9. 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; 
(3) identify and assess the risks to United 
States flight crews, air carriers, manufacturers, and 
other stakeholders in the aviation industry associ-
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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. 10. 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. 
(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). 
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(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) NOTIFICATIONS TO THE NTSB.—The Adminis-
trator shall notify the National Transportation Safety 
Board of each instance identified in carrying out sub-
section (c) of this section and shall share with the Na-
tional Transportation Safety Board all information it 
gathers in relation to each such instance. 
(e) UNSCHEDULED LANDINGS DUE TO MECHANICAL 
ISSUES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each Certificate Manage-
ment Office within the FAA shall immediately notify 
the National Transportation Safety Board in any in-
stance in which a part 121 air carrier falling under 
its supervision completes an unscheduled landing at 
any airport in the United States, including any in-
stance in which an airplane returns to its airport of 
origin after takeoff before or without completing its 
scheduled flight, in which a mechanical issue was a 
factor. 
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(2) CONTENT.—The notification described in 
paragraph (1) shall include any information avail-
able about the cause of the unscheduled landing. 
(f) NTSB ANALYSIS AND REPORT.—The National 
Transportation Safety Board, in collaboration with the 
FAA, shall analyze information in the notifications it re-
ceives in subsections (d) and (e) of this section, for the 
purpose of identifying any trends or emerging concerns 
with any individual air carriers. Not less than once per 
year, the National Transportation Safety Board shall sub-
mit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
a report on its analysis, the findings of its analysis, and 
any safety recommendations resulting from the analysis. 
(g) 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. 11. 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 
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(3) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration. 
(4) PART 121 AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘part 
121 air carrier’’ means an air carrier that holds a 
certificate issued under part 121 of title 14, Code of 
Federal Regulations. 
(5) PART 129 AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘part 
129 air carrier’’ means an air carrier that holds a 
certificate issued under part 129 of title 14, Code of 
Federal Regulations. 
Æ 
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