FAA Addresses Safety Agenda

<B> FAA Addresses Safety Agenda</B>

By Barbara Cook

<i>Washington</i> - FAA administrator Jane Garvey and acting deputy administrator Monte Belger recently described focused efforts the agency is undertaking to significantly reduce the worldwide accident rate.

Speaking at the International Civil Aviation Organization meeting in Montreal late last month, Garvey said that in the future FAA may be able to use ICAO safety oversight reports as the basis for making determinations on the adequacy of foreign oversight of civil aviation safety. Currently, FAA sends its own investigating teams to determine whether foreign civil aviation authorities comply with ICAO standards.

To demonstrate FAA's support of ICAO's own safety oversight program, Garvey said she has requested that the organization conduct an audit of U.S. aviation regulations.

"With air traffic expected to increase dramatically over the next 10 to 15 years, we must reaffirm our number one priority: to significantly reduce the worldwide accident rate," she said.

Garvey also said it is imperative that ICAO member countries address Y2K problems by sharing information about the status of their air traffic control systems and by forming contingency plans. "We must accelerate our efforts to implement corrective measures so that safe and reliable service will continue before, on and after Jan. 1, 2000," she said. (For more on Y2K issues, see page 16.)

Belger also discussed aviation safety at a Washington, D.C., conference, stating that the federal government has the goal of reducing the U.S. commercial aviation accident rate by 80 percent from 1996 levels by the year 2007. To achieve this, Belger described the Safer Skies aviation agenda adopted by FAA earlier this year and the new Air Transportation Oversight System that will change how FAA inspects and oversees air carriers.

"One of the most important elements of Safer Skies is its disciplined focus on the prevention of accidents," Belger said. "Safer Skies signals a fundamental shift in the way FAA thinks about safety. Before, we were reactive rather than taking a longer view of the evolving character of risk. We recognize now that we must invest our resources in those areas most likely to yield the largest benefits to safety."

The ATOS program, he noted, will complement this effort by sharing data on air carriers nationwide, so FAA inspectors can better spot safety trends and target resources to catch problems before they lead to an incident or accident. The first phase of ATOS begins this month, and will focus on the 10 largest passenger airlines, as well as on new entrants. Other carriers will be phased in over time, Belger said.

Belger said FAA will address aging wiring, flight control and hydraulics systems on older U.S. aircraft.