Trade Groups Move To Stop ASRS Funding Cut

The National Air Transportation Association and NBAA have reacted swiftly to the FAA’s warning that the agency might withhold funding for the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) due to "budgetary shortfalls." In a June 16 letter to FAA associate administrator for aviation safety Nicholas Sabatini, the two trade groups said "the ASRS program is a tremendous safety benefit to all users of the aviation system. As you know, ASRS encourages voluntary disclosures of safety-related incidents, in exchange for protections, to help safety experts and the FAA identify and remedy potentially hazardous conditions. Without this program, thousands of incident reports that have yielded significant safety information, and that have been relied upon heavily by safety efforts such as Safer Skies, would be lost." Since ASRS was established in 1975, more than 600,000 reports have been submitted by pilots, mechanics, flight attendants and air traffic controllers. According to ASRS officials, no reporter's identity has been breached nor has any reporter been prosecuted solely on the basis of the information reported.