(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 
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. 
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(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. 
(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. 
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(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 2022 through 2027, including grants to partici-
pating research institutions, including the academic insti-
tutions that make up the FAA’s Consortium in Aviation 
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-
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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 
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 
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