kellwolf
Piece of Trash
Sort of. FOQA takes data from flight characteristics, de-identifies it, and you can spot potentially hazardous trends. Essentially, you can recreate a flight in a "MS flight simulator" type display and see what was going on. It's become a very useful tool in training, and it's EXTREMELY useful in spotting alarming trends. Now, you have to use this data properly. Rather than going after the pilots that are operating these flights, we use the data to determine why the flights are being operated in such a manner. FOQA data in the past has led to manual changes, new checklists and new procedures all aimed at improving the overall safety of the operation. I'm here to say, it DOES work. The really bad FOQA examples sometimes wind up as examples of how NOT to operate the aircraft and often serve as starting points for discussions in the CRM class. For example, a flight operating into an airport is turning at 500 AGL, doesn't have all the flaps out yet and is fast. This is no where CLOSE to being termed a "stabilized approach," and it should have ending in a go around, not a salvaged landing. We've got the data to recreate a flight, and they show it in our CRM classes. After viewing the data, then question gets asked "Who was at fault here? If the CA were flying, and you were the FO what would you have done?" It takes a negative, turns it into a training opportunity while at the same time seeing if it's a common occurrence at the airline that is indicative of a larger problem.
ASAP is sort of like a NASA form for the airlines. You basically "self-disclose" when something goes wrong, your report is de-identified and you can't be disciplined for it under MOST circumstances. There are things that would keep a report from being accepted into the ASAP program, and if these things happen, you're still on the hook. I generally fill one out just in case to cover my rear. Let's say your FO goes 10 degrees off heading on an approach, you're tired from the night before and didn't notice. Now tower is wondering what's going on and queries you. Just because they say you're okay doesn't REALLY mean you're off the hook. A contributing factor to this would be fatigue. Filling out an ASAP and mentioning that could help identify yet another trend. We had a checklist change because of ASAP reports from multiple pilots. The occurrences of the event when from fairly often to zero as a result.
When used properly, both can be excellent safety tools. When abused by management (or the pilots in some cases), that advantage goes away because no one will participate in the program. If you're not getting any participation, you don't get reports. Without reports, there's no way to spot trends and increase safety.
