A number of possible indicators of aviation safety exist. FAA’s Actions to Provide More Aviation Safety Information to the Public

FAA began to take a number of actions to provide aviation safety-related information to the public in July 1996. The Administrator asked FAA’s Office of System Safety to assemble a working group of senior-level officials to determine how the FAA could most efficiently and effectively accomplish this task. As a result, FAA announced on January 29, 1997, that it would use the Internet to pursue all three of its information strategies: establishing an aviation safety information web site linked to FAA’s Internet web site, publicizing significant enforcement actions, and undertaking a public education campaign on aviation safety. In addition to the press release and public education information, the aviation safety information web site includes a link to a web site maintained by the FAA’s Office of System Safety, where the public can access and search several of the principal sources of aviation safety data and information that are used by the federal government. When it was first made available to the public, the web site included three aviation safety databases:
The NTSB Aviation Accident/Incident Database, which is the official repository of aviation accident data and causal factors. Early Data Indicate That Public Demand for Aviation Safety Information on the Internet Has Grown

Since FAA first established its aviation safety web site on the Internet, it has seen an approximately fourfold increase in the number of users who have accessed the safety data web site each week. They added, however, that it is too early to tell if these trends will continue. FAA’s Plans to Expand Information About Aviation Safety on Its Web Site

FAA plans to add other safety-related information to the web site gradually over time. By May 31, 1997, FAA plans to add data from the FAA National Airspace Incident Monitoring System, which includes information on near mid-air collisions.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) what actions the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken to make aviation safety information more available to the public; (2) what the public demand has been for FAA's aviation safety information; (3) FAA's plans to expand the aviation safety information available to the public; and (4) FAA's progress in making safety information available to the public.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) FAA took a number of actions to provide aviation safety-related information to the public beginning in July 1996; (2) FAA formed a working group of senior-level agency officials and adopted a strategy of providing aviation safety information to the public through a three-part effort: (a) establishing an aviation safety information web site linked to the FAA's Internet web site; (b) publicizing significant enforcement actions; and (c) undertaking a public education campaign on aviation safety; (3) as of April 10, 1997, FAA has included four databases on its aviation safety Internet web site; (4) those databases include information on aviation accidents, other safety-related incidents, traffic data (e.g., departures made) reported by large commercial air carriers, which can be used to calculate comparative accident or incident rates, and the safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board to FAA; (5) since FAA first made its aviation safety site on the Internet available to the public, it has seen an approximate fourfold increase in the number of users who have accessed the web site each week; (6) usage has increased during those weeks when a public announcement related to the site has been made; (7) in addition, FAA's data indicate that users are spending more time using the site; (8) it is too soon, however, to tell if these trends will continue; (9) FAA plans to expand the number of databases that it posts on its aviation safety web site throughout the rest of 1997; and (10) it expects to incorporate information on the airlines' composition (i.e., the make, models, and ages of aircraft in each airline's fleet) and other indicators of aviation safety (e.g., data on near mid-air collisions).