ASRS Directline  Issue Number 10 : December 1998

ASRS Services on the INTERNETThe ASRS Web Site, started in late 1995, has become increasingly popular with the aviation community. To the end of September 1998, there have been 435,763 "Hits"1 in 154,904 "User Sessions."2 The most popular pages, other than the ASRS Home Page are CALLBACK (ASRS's award winning Monthly Safety Bulletin), ASRS Reporting Forms, ASRS Database Information, and ASRS Directline. Since April, 1997, 14,888 NASA Incident Reporting Forms (in PDF)3 have been downloaded by pilots, controllers, maintenance personnel, and cabin crew. There were 25,114 ASRS Database Report Sets downloaded from February 15 through the end of September, 1998.

 

New Features in 1998

Ongoing: We will continue to add CALLBACK and ASRS Directline issues in HTML4 and PDF format as they are published.

January 15: Selected ASRS Database "Report Sets" were added to the ASRS Web Site. We have provided twenty individual sets of reports on various issues of topical interest. Report Sets are available in Rich Text Format5 (RTF). The file size for each Report Set will be small, averaging less than 200K, thus download time for users will be minimal.

Each Report Set consists of fifty ASRS Database records, preceeded by a note of introduction, caveats on use of ASRS data, and standard abbreviations and definitions used in ASRS Database records. All Report Sets have been pre-screened to assure their relevance to the selected topic. The Report Sets will be updated quarterly. New topics will be added -- and outdated topics removed -- in response to input from the ASRS user community, and analysis of Web site usage.

Your comments on the usefulness of the "ASRS Database Report Sets" feature would be appreciated, and may be directed to ASRS's Web Site Administrator at webadmin@olias.arc.nasa.gov

 

Upcoming Features in 1999

Research Products: ASRS Research Papers will be provided in HTML and PDF.

Web Pages: The general appearance and functionality of all ASRS pages will be upgraded, and navigation will be made simpler and more intuitive.

Electronic Report Submission: We are planning to introduce a new method for electronic dissemination, and ultimately submission, of ASRS aviation safety incident reports.

Definitions

1 Hit: An action on a web server, such as when a user views a page or downloads a file.

2 User Session: A session of activity (all hits) for one user of a web site. A unique user is determined by the IP address or domain name. By default, a user session is (considered) terminated when a user falls inactive for more than 30 minutes.

3 PDF: Adobe's Portable Document Format, quickly becoming a standard where there is need to transfer exact image documents between various computer platforms.

4 HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language -- the common cross-platform language for web browsers.

5 RTF: Microsoft's Rich Text Format, a format which can preserve formatting between various applications, most notably word processing packages. RTF can be read by almost all word processors, and by many spreadsheet and database programs.


ASRS Web Site Features (December, 1998)

Here is what is available on ASRS's Web Site:

ASRS Publications

Operational Issues Bulletins

Reporting Forms (In PDF)

Immunity Policies

ASRS Database

Program Overview (a quick summary of ASRS function and products)

Program Briefing (a slightly more in-depth examination of the ASRS)

Contact ASRS (e-mail addresses for major ASRS programs)

 

Web Site Usage -- Some Interesting Numbers

ASRS Publications

HTML and PDF versions of CALLBACK and ASRS Directline complement the printed versions of these publications. CALLBACK, posted monthly to the Web Site, is exteremely popular -- an average of 1,200 users every month read the most current "online" version.

NASA Aviation Incident Reporting Forms

In April of 1997, ASRS introduced Adobe Acrobat versions of the Reporting Forms. (Users download a PDF version of the Reporting Form of their choice, a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, and then print, fill out and mail their completed report.) Here are the downloads for NASA Reporting Forms:

General (Pilot) Forms
 9,560
Maintenance (Mechanic) Forms
 2,417
Cabin Crew Forms
 1,566
ATC (Controller) Forms
 1,345
Total 14,888

 

Overall Access to ASRSs Web Site

Figure 1 shows both "Hits" and "User Sessions" from December, 1995 though September, 1998.
(See the "Definitions" sidebar (top) for an explanation of Hits and User Sessions.)

ASRS website Hits, December 1995 through september 1998

 

ASRS Database Reports Sets

Rich Text Format versions of frequently search requests were introduced in January of 1998. As can be seen in Table 1 (below), these have generated a lot of interest.

Set / Month
01/98
02/98
03/98
04/98
05/98
06/98
07/98
08/98
09/98
Total
Cabin Attendant Reports
615
300
249
248
239
204
166
329
221
2,571
Pilot / Controller Communications
503
305
190
194
175
156
129
182
150
1,984
Controlled Flight Toward Terrain
456
253
218
169
166
123
110
175
153
1.823
Checklist Incidents
389
303
207
189
154
127
101
182
160
1,812
CRM Issues
423
267
223
203
158
136
101
153
148
1,812
Mechanic Reports
274
182
112
151
125
107
102
149
148
1,350
Parachutist / Aircraft Conflicts
357
177
115
106
78
109
94
136
121
1,293
Automated Weather Systems
333
172
116
99
94
100
64
147
98
1,223
Inflight Weather Encounters
278
138
124
104
109
95
67
104
97
1,116
Runway Incursions
247
121
130
121
76
120
87
106
93
1,101
Commuter & Corp. Flight Crew Fatigue
205
182
131
82
92
69
67
106
102
1,036
Commuter and GA Icing Incidents
359
151
103
80
67
79
49
67
73
1,028
Non-Tower Airport Incidents
296
118
78
72
74
71
48
99
102
958
Multi-Engine Turbojet Upsets Incidents
200
147
93
82
85
76
85
102
86
956
TCAS II Incidents
203
119
120
104
86
69
70
95
89
955
Passenger Electronic Devices
78
173
129
104
63
48
34
139
132
900
Wake Turbulence Encounters
204
127
87
89
79
63
67
88
75
879
Land and Hold Short Operations
243
124
94
68
69
52
56
78
75
859
Fuel Management Issues
221
108
116
75
65
63
52
76
67
843
Rotary Wing Aircraft Crew Reports
139
85
53
56
34
48
47
86
67
615
Totals
6,023
3,552
2,688
2,396
2,088
1,915
1,596
2,599
2,257
25,114

 

Reproduction and redistribution of ASRS Directline articles is not only permitted--it is encouraged. We ask that you give attibution to the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), to ASRS Directline, and of course, to the authors of each article.