SPECIAL STUDIES

Periodically the ASRS is requested by aviation organizations; such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to conduct studies on safety topics of interest. ASRS research is designed and conducted with an orientation toward real-life operations and most previous studies have examined human performance in the NAS. Current subjects of ASRS research include wake vortex encounters and weather data link.

If you have an incident that may be related to our list of current studies, simply file an ASRS report as usual. If your ASAP program automatically forwards your report to ASRS, you do not have to additionally submit directly to ASRS unless you desire to make this additional report. An ASRS Expert Analyst will subsequently contact you to request your voluntary participation in completing a web-based set of supplemental questions. If you prefer, a telephone follow-up may be conducted at your request. All information in your original report and provided in the supplemental question set will be de-identified prior to any release of the ASRS research project information. ASRS strongly encourages individuals to participate in these current studies.

CurrentLY ACTIVE STUDIES

Meteorological and Aeronautical Information Services
Data Link Services and Applications Study

In cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) AFS-400, NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is conducting a study focused on meteorological and aeronautical information services (AIS) via data link.

ASRS is gathering reports of incidents that occurred while pilots were utilizing weather or AIS information in the cockpit (textual and/or graphical) obtained via data link (including ACARS) or other sources on the ground or in the air.

Some of the factors to be analyzed include the type of weather data received, cockpit display utilized, software or applications used to receive meteorological information, and end user graphical interface issues.

 

Wake Vortex Encounter Study

In cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) AJR-53, NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is examining Wake Vortex Encounter incidents reported to ASRS.

ASRS began this study in 2007 and at present the Wake Vortex Encounter Study includes all airspace within the United States, enroute and terminal. In quarterly reports, the ASRS documents event dynamics and contributing factors underlying unique wake vortex encounter incidents.

A sampling of the factors to be analyzed includes reporters’ assessed magnitude of wake encounter, aircraft spacing, aircraft type, runway configuration, and consequences from the encounter.

A periodic summary reports includes lessons learned, ATC clearance practices and pilot training that may mitigate or prevent future wake encounters.