With fewer accidents to investigate and learn from, it is widely held that collecting and analyzing data and then sharing the information that results from that process is essential to identifying safety risks before they result in accidents and serious incidents. Flight Safety Foundation wholeheartedly supports this thinking. Efficient and effective safety data collection and processing systems are critical to effective safety management systems and to continued improvement of the industry’s safety performance.
What may be less widely recognized is that not all safety-critical data are generated automatically by aircraft systems, components and sensors monitored by flight data recorders and flight data management systems. Valuable data and information are gathered in the form of voluntary safety reports from pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance technicians and others throughout the system who report potential safety issues ranging from operational issues to inadver…
