Safe Landings Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4166 To improve technology and address human factors in aviation safety, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 6, 2019 Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To improve technology and address human factors in aviation safety, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Landings Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Given that the United States enjoys an ex- 7 ceptionally safe aviation system with an exceedingly 8 low frequency of airline accidents, efforts to improve 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4166 IH aviation safety should examine nonaccident safety 1 incidents for all possible insights. 2 (2) Aviation safety should not be taken for 3 granted, and even with so few accidents, the U.S. 4 Aerospace System should proactively address safety 5 concerns that emerge from our dynamic and evolving 6 economic conditions, technology, aviation industry, 7 and other factors. 8 (3) Preventing accidents from occurring in the 9 airport runway environment remains an objective re- 10 quiring continued effort, and incidents of runway 11 confusion, defined as the subset of runway incur- 12 sions in which an aircraft unintentionally takes off 13 or lands on a taxiway or incorrect runway, should be 14 carefully monitored, reviewed, and studied for in- 15 sights to improve safety. 16 (4) While technology continues to advance and 17 new opportunities to use technology to address safe- 18 ty risks in aviation are examined and pursued, the 19 evolving role of technology and the expanding use of 20 automation should not be used as justification to di- 21 minish attention to and prioritization of the human 22 contribution to aviation safety. The aviation industry 23 and the Government must ensure that training pro- 24 grams for flight crews and other personnel are ap- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4166 IH propriately evolving, that training standards and ex- 1 pectations remain rigorous, and that risks and con- 2 cerns associated with the interaction between hu- 3 mans, technology, and automated systems are identi- 4 fied, studied, and addressed in a timely manner. 5 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS. 6 (a) NAVIGATIONAL RADIOS.—The Administrator 7 shall implement the recommendation of the National 8 Transportation Safety Board numbered as A–18–23 and 9 issued on October 11, 2018, with respect to the tuning 10 of navigational radios to assist flight crews in managing 11 the flight path of aircraft on visual approaches. The Ad- 12 ministrator shall work with part 121 air carriers on imple- 13 mentation of this recommendation, and, not later than 1 14 year after the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 15 shall issue to Congress a report on air carrier compliance 16 rate. 17 (b) NTSB RECOMMENDATION.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall im- 19 plement the recommendation of the National Trans- 20 portation Safety Board numbered as A–18–25 and 21 issued on October 11, 2018, and, not later than 1 22 year after the enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 23 trator shall issue to Congress a report on the status 24 of the implementation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4166 IH (2) CONSIDERATION.—In implementing this 1 recommendation, the Administrator shall consider 2 any relevant findings identified pursuant to section 3 334 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Pub- 4 lic Law 115–254). 5 (c) PILOT ALERTS.—The Administrator shall— 6 (1) collaborate with aircraft and avionics manu- 7 facturers, labor organizations representing pilots op- 8 erating under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal 9 Regulations, and software developers to develop the 10 technology for a cockpit system that provides an 11 alert to pilots when an airplane is not aligned with 12 the intended runway surface; 13 (2) once such technology described in para- 14 graph (1) is available, establish a requirement for 15 the technology to be installed on aircraft operating 16 under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula- 17 tions, landing at airports within Class B and Class 18 C airspace and certified under part 139 of title 14, 19 Code of Federal Regulations; 20 (3) in establishing the requirement as described 21 in paragraph (2), consider any relevant findings 22 identified pursuant to section 334 of the FAA Reau- 23 thorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4166 IH (4) not later than 1 year after the date of en- 1 actment of this Act, issue to Congress a report on 2 the progress of the work described in paragraph (1). 3 (d) NTSB RECOMMENDATION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall im- 5 plement the recommendation of the National Trans- 6 portation Safety Board numbered as A–18–27 and 7 issued on October 11, 2018, and, not later than 1 8 year after the enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 9 trator shall issue to Congress a report on the status 10 of the implementation. 11 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In implementing this 12 recommendation, the Administrator shall consider 13 any relevant findings identified pursuant to section 14 334 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Pub- 15 lic Law 115–254). 16 SEC. 4. INVESTIGATIONS FOR COVERED EVENTS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Once implementation of section 18 3(b) of this Act is complete, the National Transportation 19 Safety Board may initiate investigations of covered events 20 to determine risk factors specific to the airport at which 21 such an event occurred and other elements of the National 22 Airspace System that may contribute to the cause of the 23 event. The National Transportation Safety Board may 24 also elect to consider multiple events in a single report 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4166 IH as part of a special investigation or study to examine safe- 1 ty factors contributing to these events. 2 (b) ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATIVE INFORMATION.—In 3 addition to any investigation that the National Transpor- 4 tation Safety Board is conducting with respect to any spe- 5 cific covered event, the NTSB shall utilize voluntarily pro- 6 vided safety information in its evaluation of associated risk 7 in the National Airspace System and protect such infor- 8 mation from public release in accordance with section 9 1114(b)(3) of title 49, United States Code. 10 (c) CONTENT.—The review and analysis shall exam- 11 ine factors present at the time of any covered event at 12 such airport, including— 13 (1) challenges pilots perceive when flying into 14 and out of the airport; 15 (2) challenges that air traffic controllers face 16 when working at the airport; 17 (3) characteristics of the communications 18 among and between groups of personnel whose work 19 relates to the movement of aircraft into and out of 20 the airport including pilots, air traffic controllers, 21 maintenance workers, dispatchers, and airline air- 22 port operations personnel; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4166 IH (4) physical characteristics of the airport and 1 its facilities, such as the configuration of runways, 2 runway lighting, and construction activity. 3 SEC. 5. TASK FORCE ON HUMAN FACTORS IN AVIATION 4 SAFETY. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall con- 7 vene an FAA Task Force on Human Factors in Aviation 8 Safety. 9 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall consist of 10 members appointed by the Administrator and having ex- 11 pertise in an operational or academic discipline that is rel- 12 evant to the analysis of human errors in aviation. The 13 number of members shall be determined by the Adminis- 14 trator to ensure sufficient representation of relevant oper- 15 ational and academic disciplines. 16 (c) DURATION.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Members of the Task Force 18 shall be appointed for the length of the existence of 19 the Task Force. 20 (2) LENGTH OF EXISTENCE.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall 22 have an initial length of existence of 2 years. 23 (B) OPTION.—The Administrator may ex- 24 ercise an option to lengthen the duration of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4166 IH existence of the Task Force for a period of 2 1 years. 2 (d) DISCIPLINES.—For purposes of subsection (b), 3 disciplines may include air carrier operations, line pilot ex- 4 pertise, air traffic control, technical operations, aero- 5 nautical information, aircraft maintenance and mechanics 6 psychology, linguistics, human-machine integration, gen- 7 eral aviation operations, and organizational behavior and 8 culture. 9 (e) EXPERTISE.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—No less than half of the 11 members shall have expertise in aviation. 12 (2) ADDITIONAL EXPERTISE.—The Task Force 13 shall include members with expertise on human fac- 14 tors but whose experience and training are not in 15 aviation specifically and who have not previously 16 been engaged in work related to the FAA or the 17 aviation industry. The Task Force shall also include 18 pilot labor organizations and at least one member 19 from an air traffic controller labor organization. 20 (f) FAA MEMBERS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not more than 4 members 22 may be employees of the FAA and NTSB, excluding 23 representatives of the labor representatives of em- 24 ployees of the air traffic control system. Not more 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4166 IH than 2 members may be employees of the NTSB. 1 The FAA and the NTSB members shall be non-vot- 2 ing. 3 (2) FAA EMPLOYEES.—Any member who is an 4 FAA employee shall have expertise in safety. 5 (g) DUTIES.—In coordination with the Research, En- 6 gineering, and Development Advisory Committee estab- 7 lished under section 44508 of title 49, United States Code, 8 the Task Force shall— 9 (1) not later than the date on which the Task 10 Force is no longer in existence, produce a written re- 11 port that— 12 (A) to the greatest extent possible, identi- 13 fies the most significant human factors and 14 their relative contribution to aviation safety 15 risk; 16 (B) identifies new research priorities for 17 research in human factors in aviation safety; 18 (C) reviews existing products by other 19 working groups related to human factors in 20 aviation safety including the Commercial Avia- 21 tion Safety Team (CAST)’s work pertaining to 22 flight crew responses to abnormal events; 23 (D) provides recommendations on potential 24 revisions to any FAA regulations and guidance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4166 IH pertaining to the certification of aircraft under 1 part 25 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula- 2 tions, including sections related to presumed 3 pilot response times and assumptions about the 4 reliability of pilot performance during unex- 5 pected, stressful events; 6 (E) reviews rules, regulations, or standards 7 regarding flight crew rest and fatigue that are 8 used by a sample of international air carriers, 9 including those deemed to be more stringent 10 and less stringent than the current standards 11 pertaining to United States air carriers, and 12 identify risks to the National Airspace System 13 from any such variation in standards across 14 countries; 15 (F) reviews pilot training requirements and 16 recommend any revisions necessary to ensure 17 adequate understanding of automated systems 18 on aircraft; and 19 (G) reviews approach and landing mis- 20 alignment and make any recommendations for 21 improving these events; 22 (2) produce a written report to Congress not 23 less than once every 2 years that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4166 IH (A) summarizes new research developments 1 on human factors in aviation safety; 2 (B) to the greatest extent possible, identi- 3 fies the most significant human factors and 4 their relative contribution to aviation safety 5 risk; and 6 (C) provides any recommendations for pol- 7 icy or regulatory action; and 8 (3) if the Secretary exercises the option de- 9 scribed in subsection (c)(2)(B), not later than the 10 date that is 2 years after the date of establishment 11 of the Task Force, produce an interim report con- 12 taining the information described in paragraph (1). 13 (h) APPLICABLE LAW.—The Federal Advisory Com- 14 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the Task 15 Force. 16 SEC. 6. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ON NEW 17 APPROACHES TO DATA ANALYSIS FOR AVIA- 18 TION SAFETY. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 20 new research and development program to be undertaken 21 by the FAA’s Consortium in Aviation Operations Research 22 (NEXTOR II) to investigate and develop new approaches 23 to data analysis for understanding the factors in aviation 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4166.IH H4166 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4166 IH safety incidents and identifying emerging risks of future 1 safety incidents. 2 (b) APPROACHES.—The approaches described in sub- 3 section (a) include the use of new algorithms for analyzing 4 the text and audio of communications between flight crews 5 and air traffic controllers and the use of ma [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]