Last week, NATA filed a submission to the FAA’s Request for Comments on the Notice of Proposed Order Designating U.S. Aviation Safety Team (USAST) and Aerospace National Safety Issue Registry (ANSIR) Information from Public Disclosure. NATA’s comments highlighted the importance of protecting certain system-level safety and security information provided to the FAA through voluntary reporting to the USAST or ANSIR. Aviation community safety teams, including the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), General Aviation joint Safety Committee (GAJSC), U.S. Helicopter Safety Team, rely on the proprietary safety data that is submitted to develop appropriate prevention or mitigation safety solutions. As members of the GAJSC, NATA has seen firsthand how significant these reports and data are to improving safety within the National Airspace System (NAS).
The proposed order will further encourage operators and aviation stakeholders to share critical safety information on new hazards, emerging risks, and systemic safety issues that impact the aviation ecosystem. Protecting this information from public disclosure will encourage air navigation service providers, air carriers and operators, crewmembers, manufacturers, associations, and other aerospace stakeholders to voluntarily report potential safety issues without the fear of involuntary public disclosure.