Aviation Automation and Human Factors Safety Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2703 To enhance the recognition of, and response to, aircraft failure conditions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 24, 2019 Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To enhance the recognition of, and response to, aircraft failure conditions, 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 ‘‘Aviation Automation 4 and Human Factors Safety Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ENHANCING PILOT RECOGNITION OF, AND RE- 6 SPONSE TO, FAILURE CONDITIONS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—As recommended by the National 8 Transportation Safety Board in Aviation Safety Rec- 9 ommendation Report ASR–19–01 issued on September 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2703 IS 19, 2019, and titled ‘‘Assumptions Used in the Safety As- 1 sessment Process and the Effects of Multiple Alerts and 2 Indications on Pilot Performance’’, the Administrator of 3 the Federal Aviation Administration (in this Act referred 4 to as the ‘‘Administrator’’), shall do the following: 5 (1) 737 MAX.—Require, with respect to 737 6 MAX aircraft, the manufacturer of such aircraft to 7 demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Administrator 8 that— 9 (A) system safety assessments for such air- 10 craft, including those in which immediate and 11 appropriate pilot corrective actions are assumed 12 in response to uncommanded flight control in- 13 puts from systems such as the Maneuvering 14 Characteristics Augmentation System, consider 15 the effect of all possible flight deck alerts and 16 indications on pilot recognition and response; 17 and 18 (B) design enhancements (including flight 19 deck alerts and indications), pilot procedures, 20 and training requirements, are incorporated 21 into such aircraft where needed, to minimize 22 the potential for, and safety impact of, pilot ac- 23 tions that are inconsistent with manufacturer 24 assumptions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2703 IS (2) OTHER AIRCRAFT.—Require that manufac- 1 turers of all United States type-certificated trans- 2 port-category aircraft (other than 737 MAX air- 3 craft) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Admin- 4 istrator that— 5 (A) system safety assessments for such air- 6 craft, including those in which immediate and 7 appropriate pilot corrective actions are assumed 8 in response to uncommanded flight control in- 9 puts consider the effect of all possible flight 10 deck alerts and indications on pilot recognition 11 and response; and 12 (B) design enhancements (including flight 13 deck alerts and indications), pilot procedures, 14 and training requirements, are incorporated 15 into such aircraft where needed, to minimize 16 the potential for, and safety impact of, pilot ac- 17 tions that are inconsistent with manufacturer 18 assumptions. 19 (3) INTERNATIONAL REGULATORS.—Notify 20 international regulators that certify transport-cat- 21 egory aircraft type designs (such as the European 22 Union Aviation Safety Agency, Transport Canada, 23 the National Civil Aviation Agency-Brazil, the Civil 24 Aviation Administration of China, and the Russian 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2703 IS Federal Air Transport Agency) of the requirements 1 under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) 2 and encourage such regulators to evaluate the rel- 3 evance of such requirements to their processes and 4 address any changes, if applicable. 5 (4) DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS AND METHODS 6 FOR VALIDATING ASSUMPTIONS.— 7 (A) DEVELOPMENT.—Develop robust tools 8 and methods, with the input of industry and 9 human factors experts, for use in validating as- 10 sumptions about pilot recognition and response 11 to safety-significant failure conditions as part of 12 the aircraft design certification process. 13 (B) REVISION OF REGULATIONS AND 14 GUIDANCE.—After the tools and methods have 15 been developed as recommended under subpara- 16 graph (A), revise existing Federal Aviation Ad- 17 ministration regulations and guidance to incor- 18 porate the use of such tools and methods and 19 require documentation as part of the aircraft 20 design certification process, including re-exam- 21 ining the validity of pilot recognition and re- 22 sponse assumptions permitted in existing Fed- 23 eral Aviation Administration guidance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2703 IS (5) DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF 1 DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS.— 2 (A) DEVELOPMENT.—Develop design 3 standards, with the input of industry and 4 human factors experts, for aircraft system diag- 5 nostic tools that improve the prioritization and 6 clarity of failure indications (direct and indi- 7 rect) presented to pilots to improve the timeli- 8 ness and effectiveness of their response. 9 (B) IMPLEMENTATION.—After the design 10 standards have been developed under subpara- 11 graph (A), require implementation of system di- 12 agnostic tools on transport-category aircraft to 13 improve the timeliness and effectiveness of pi- 14 lots’ response when multiple flight deck alerts 15 and indications are present. 16 (b) ANNUAL REPORT ON PROGRESS.—Not later than 17 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 18 annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to 19 Congress a report on the progress of the Administrator 20 in carrying out the requirements under subsection (a). 21 Such report shall also include recommendations for such 22 legislation and administrative action as the Administrator 23 determines appropriate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2703 IS SEC. 3. ENHANCING THE ABILITY OF THE FAA TO ENSURE 1 THAT AIR CARRIERS SUFFICIENTLY ADDRESS 2 PILOT MONITORING AND MANUAL FLYING 3 SKILLS. 4 As recommended by the Inspector General of the De- 5 partment of Transportation in audit report AV–2016–013 6 issued on January 7, 2016, and titled ‘‘Enhanced FAA 7 Oversight Could Reduce Hazards Associated With In- 8 creased Use of Flight Deck Automation’’, the Adminis- 9 trator, in order to enhance the ability of the Federal Avia- 10 tion Administration to ensure that air carriers sufficiently 11 address pilot monitoring and manual flying skills, shall, 12 not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 13 Act— 14 (1) issue guidance defining pilot monitoring 15 metrics that air carriers may use to train and evalu- 16 ate pilots, including metrics or measurable tasks 17 that air carriers can use to evaluate pilot monitoring 18 proficiency; and 19 (2) establish and disseminate standards to de- 20 termine whether pilots receive sufficient training op- 21 portunities to develop, maintain, and demonstrate 22 manual flying skills necessary to ensure pilots can 23 recover from an unexpected event or failures with 24 highly automated cockpit systems. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2703 IS SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT THAT DESIGN AND PRODUCTION 1 ORGANIZATIONS HAVE IN PLACE A SAFETY 2 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. 3 (a) RULEMAKING.—The Administrator shall conduct 4 a rulemaking proceeding to require that design and pro- 5 duction approval holders for aviation products have in 6 place a safety management system (SMS) that is con- 7 sistent with the standards established by the International 8 Civil Aviation Organization for such systems. 9 (b) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 1 year after the 10 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 11 issue a final rule pursuant to the rulemaking conducted 12 under subsection (a). 13 (c) SURVEILLANCE AND AUDIT REQUIREMENT.— 14 Under the final rule issued pursuant to subsection (b), the 15 Administrator shall implement documented surveillance 16 processes by defining and planning inspections, audits, 17 and monitoring activities on a continuous basis, to ensure 18 that design and production approval holders for aviation 19 products continue to meet the established requirements 20 under the rule. 21 SEC. 5. FAA CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE FOR FLIGHT AUTO- 22 MATION AND HUMAN FACTORS IN COMMER- 23 CIAL AIRCRAFT. 24 (a) CENTER.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2703 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall de- 1 velop a Center for Excellence focused on flight auto- 2 mation and human factors in commercial aircraft. 3 (2) DUTIES.—The Center for Excellence 4 shall— 5 (A) promote and facilitate collaboration 6 among academia, the Federal Aviation Adminis- 7 tration, and the commercial aircraft and airline 8 industries, including aircraft manufacturers, 9 commercial air carriers, and representatives of 10 the airline pilot community; and 11 (B) establish goals for research and con- 12 tinuing education in areas of study relevant to 13 advancing technology, improving engineering 14 practices, and facilitating better understanding 15 of human factors concepts in the context of the 16 growing development and reliance on automa- 17 tion in commercial aircraft. 18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 19 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator such 20 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2703.IS S2703 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS