For Release: May 5, 1999 SB 99-16

SAFETY BOARD, FAA TO SPONSOR FUTURE FLIGHT DATA COMMITTEE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Jim Hall and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) head Jane Garvey today announced that they will co-sponsor a committee to examine how new flight data technology can help carry today’s extraordinary level of aviation safety well into the 21st Century.

At an NTSB symposium on transportation recorders, Hall and Garvey said that they are asking a group of experts from industry and government to form the “Future Flight Data Committee.” The committee will look ahead to 2015 and beyond to see how new technologies can be used for flight data collection and application.

The committee will draw members from U.S. and international safety boards, manufacturers, flight crew organizations and regulatory agencies. The committee will be asked to submit a final report by next spring.

“I was gratified to hear Administrator Garvey’s announcement on Monday that the FAA will adopt all of the NTSB’s open recommendations dealing with upgrading cockpit voice and flight data recorders,” Hall said. “The next logical step is to examine where flight data technology is going over the next few decades. This committee I am co-chairing with Administrator Garvey should help keep our aviation industry at the forefront of that technology.”

Flight data collection technologies, such as flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders, have been instrumental in the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. Quick -access data collection devices also are providing meaningful, manageable information that air carriers are using to improve safety and make sound business decisions.

The NTSB held a three-day symposium on flight data recorder technology this week attended by over 300 participants from 11 countries.

NTSB Press Officer: Keith Holloway (202) 314-6100