Human Factors Improvements to the Aircraft Certification Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8403 To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to better integrate human factors into the aircraft certification process through the deployment of necessary enhancements to improve aviation safety, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Trans- portation and Infrastructure A BILL To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Admin- istration to better integrate human factors into the air- craft certification process through the deployment of nec- essary enhancements to improve 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 ‘‘Human Factors Im- 4 provements to the Aircraft Certification Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. HUMAN FACTORS. 6 (a) AIRCRAFT CERTIFICATION PROCESS.— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8403.IH H8403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8403 IH (1) EVALUATION.—Not later than 18 months 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 2 trator (acting through the Associate Administrator 3 for Aviation Safety of the Administration) shall— 4 (A) conduct an evaluation of the develop- 5 ment of tools and methods to support the inte- 6 gration of human factors assessment and sys- 7 tem safety assessments of human interaction 8 with flight deck and flight control systems for 9 transport airplanes into the aircraft certifi- 10 cation process under section 44704 of title 49, 11 United States Code; and 12 (B) develop a framework to better inte- 13 grate human factors throughout such aircraft 14 certification process with the objective of im- 15 proving safety by designing systems and train- 16 ing pilots in a manner that accounts for con- 17 temporary knowledge to reduce the possibility 18 of an accident resulting in whole or in part 19 from the pilot’s interaction with the aircraft. 20 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 21 days after the completion of the evaluation required 22 under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall submit 23 to Congress a report detailing the findings of such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8403.IH H8403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8403 IH report and a plan for implementation based on such 1 findings of such report. 2 (3) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon submission of 3 the report required under paragraph (2), the Admin- 4 istrator shall implement the findings of such evalua- 5 tion. 6 (b) HUMAN FACTORS EDUCATION PROGRAM.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall de- 8 velop a human factors education program that ad- 9 dresses the effects of modern flight deck systems, in- 10 cluding automated systems, on human performance 11 for transport airplanes and the approaches for better 12 integration of human factors in aircraft design and 13 certification. 14 (2) TARGET AUDIENCE.—The human factors 15 education program shall be integrated into the train- 16 ing protocol in existence as of the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act such that such program is routinely 18 administered to the following: 19 (A) Appropriate employees within the 20 Flight Standards Service. 21 (B) Appropriate employees within the Air- 22 craft Certification Service. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8403.IH H8403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8403 IH (C) Other employees or authorized rep- 1 resentatives determined to be necessary by the 2 Administrator. 3 (c) TRANSPORT AIRPLANE MANUFACTURER INFOR- 4 MATION SHARING.—The Administrator shall— 5 (1) require each transport airplane manufac- 6 turer to provide the Administrator with the informa- 7 tion or findings necessary for flight crew to be 8 trained on flight deck systems; 9 (2) ensure the information or findings under 10 paragraph (1) adequately includes consideration of 11 human factors; and 12 (3) ensure that each transport airplane manu- 13 facturer identifies any technical basis, justification 14 or rationale for the information and findings under 15 paragraph (1). 16 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 17 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra- 18 tion’’ means the Federal Aviation Administration. 19 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 20 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 21 Aviation Administration. 22 (3) HUMAN FACTORS.—The term ‘‘human fac- 23 tors’’ means a multidisciplinary set of principles de- 24 veloped to holistically explain and predict pilot be- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8403.IH H8403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8403 IH havior in relation to the management of the oper- 1 ation of an aircraft, including the pilot’s manage- 2 ment of aircraft systems and response to systems 3 failures and non-normal conditions. 4 (4) TRANSPORT AIRPLANE.—The term ‘‘trans- 5 port airplane’’ means a transport-category airplane 6 designed for operation by an air carrier or foreign 7 air carrier type-certificated with a passenger seating 8 capacity of 30 or more or an all-cargo derivative of 9 such an airplane. 10 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 11 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary 12 to carry out this section. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:46 Oct 21, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8403.IH H8403 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS