The U.S. National Aeronautical and Space Administration’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is marking its 40th year of continuous operation. According to the April 2016 issue of Callback, the excellent monthly ASRS newsletter, the origins of ASRS can be traced to the Dec. 1, 1974, fatal crash of TWA Flight 514 on approach to Washington Dulles International Airport.
The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board investigation discovered that several weeks before the TWA accident, a United Airlines crew “had experienced an identical clearance misunderstanding and narrowly missed hitting the same Virginia mountaintop,” according to Callback. “The United crew discovered their close call after landing and reported the incident to their company. A cautionary notice was issued to all United pilots. Tragically, there existed no method of shari…
