The National Transportation Safety Board has directed the Federal Aviation Administration to enhance its review process for experimental permits by requiring rigorous hazard analysis and documentation of human factor mitigations.
Safety recommendation
The National Transportation Safety Board has directed the Federal Aviation Administration to enhance its review process for experimental permits by requiring rigorous hazard analysis and documentation of human factor mitigations.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued safety recommendation A-15-020, designated as DCA15MA019, addressed directly to the Federal Aviation Administration. This directive mandates that the FAA implement specific procedural steps during its evaluation of experimental permit applications. The primary objective is to ensure that applicants thoroughly identify single flight crew tasks which, if executed incorrectly or at an inappropriate time, could lead to a catastrophic hazard. Furthermore, the recommendation requires that the FAA assess the reasonableness of proposed mitigations designed to prevent errors arising from these tasks, with particular attention to human factor considerations. The NTSB also insists that the rationale used to justify related assumptions in the hazard analysis required by 14 Code of Federal Regulations 437.55 must be fully documented. This measure aims to strengthen safety protocols for experimental aircraft operations by ensuring that potential risks are adequately analyzed and mitigated before permits are granted.