Discoverability of Airline Voluntary Safety Programs in Civil Litigation

There are several voluntary programs that have been implemented and used by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aviation industry in an effort to enhance aviation safety. Three of these major programs are (1) the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP); (2) the Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) Program; and (3) Line Operations Safety Assessment (LOSA). The FAA and the air transportation industry have used these programs as a means of addressing safety issues and identifying potential safety trends and hazards within a particular airline and the industry in general. However, being proactive and identifying risks is not enough. Coming up with and following through with measures to adequately address the risks that are revealed in such voluntary safety programs is the only way to ensure that safety is enhanced. Having a voluntary program in place but ignoring the findings does nothing to promote and enhance safety.