--by James Williams, FAA Safety Briefing Associate Editor
In history, the three-age system is a way to classify historical periods into groups of three, each building on the others. The Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages are the best-known examples. But we could apply the concept to any other historical segment.
So let me propose that the Coal Age, Oil Age, and Information Age constitute our latest tripartite era. Coal was the fuel that fed the Industrial Revolution and the railroads. This age kicked off in the early 19th century and began declining in the early 20th, when oil began to rise in economic and strategic value. The automobile and its practical internal combustion engine allowed aviation to take off, so to speak. The Oil Age has slowly transitioned to the Information Age, with data increasingly being the central “fuel” of our modern lives. How many times a day do you hear “data-driven” as a descriptor for everything from strategic plans to morning commutes?
In an Age Gone By
Until the last decade or so, one could argue that general aviation still resides in the Oil Age. That has begun to change in the last two decades. To one degree or another, composite materials, modern engines, and glass cockpits have become part of the general aviation ecosystem. As discussed in “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Singularity” in the May/June 2018 issue of FAA Safety Briefing (p.25), modern avionics opened the door for Flight Data Monitoring (FDM). Flashy screens with modern graphical interfaces sold these new avionics, but their digital architecture made the FDM breakthrough possible. Data capture became an easy task and data storage became a function of allocating memory already on board. The stage was set for GA to advance into the Information Age.
Data Versus Information
While many people consider data and information synonymous, they are different, albeit interconnected terms. The simplest way to distinguish the two is to recognize that data is a fact, while information is a fact (or facts) with some level of context or analysis. For example, a reading of your 50-knot airspeed is data. Information on the other hand would be: airspeed is 50 knots while in a climb. That context is meaningful and makes the information much more useful than the data.
FDM uses data to build information that can be useful for many purposes, from improving your flying skills to managing your maintenance practices. While useful at the individual pilot level, FDM is best used on a broader basis, since collective programs offer a larger data pool that can help detect problems more quickly. Think of it this way: if you had to learn every life lesson through personal experience, it probably wouldn’t go well (e.g., don’t touch a hot stove, look both ways before crossing the street, etc.). Our ability to learn from the experience of others is a key driver of safety in aviation.
GAARDing Data
FDM has been very beneficial to commercial aviation safety. The stumbling block for GA has always been scale. As noted in our previous FDM article, now there’s an app for that.
First a bit of background. The FAA uses a collection of databases to monitor aviation safety and these have been integrated into a single access point in the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) system that allows users to query across all these separate systems. One big hole in ASIAS was always GA data. The National General Aviation Flight Information Database (NGAFID) fills that gap by providing a structured data collection system.
To help ramp up data collection, an early innovation of the NGAFID was the introduction of the General Aviation Airborne Recording Device (GAARD) App for iOS and Android devices. GAARD allows these devices to record and submit data into NGAFID, thus dramatically increasing the total possible user base. While the data might not have the same fidelity of that derived from more advanced avionics systems, it has a much lower entry cost.
“Flight schools are quickly realizing the benefits,” says Operations Research Analyst Corey Stephens with the FAA’s Office of Accident Investigation and Prevention. “The more all of us work together, the better off we’ll all be.” Stephens hopes to see similar safety improvements to the ones seen following the implementation of FDM in the commercial world. The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) is working to spread the word on the benefits of NGAFID and ASIAS and has signed up 13 universities and 97 corporate flight departments in addition to many individual GA pilots. In total, more than 1,000,000 hours of flight data have been collected in the light GA community alone.
Analysis Paralysis
Data collection is only part of the equation; it needs context to create useful information. The GAJSC is hard at work in this area, but another organization is also on the case. The Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility, and Sustainability (PEGASAS) is a joint FAA/Academic Center of Excellence program designed to focus research on specific projects in the GA world. As you might recall from the previous FDM article, the PEGASAS team’s Safety Analysis for General Aviation project is intended to provide tools to GA that would normally come from a corporate or commercial carrier safety program.
Our ability to learn from the experience of others is a key driver of safety in aviation.
In its current phase, project researchers are learning to enhance the low resolution data provided by smartphones and tablets used as Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs). This work includes trying to “recover” data that didn’t originally exist (e.g., flap position). Such enhancement may provide higher resolution data without needing to increase the parameters on GA recorders. The team has demonstrated this capability on the Cessna 172 and Piper Archer. They have also developed algorithms to identify phases of flight in the Cessna 172 and Cirrus SR20, as well as prototype algorithms to detect hazardous states from flight recorder data. This kind of analysis turns interesting data into useful information.
Welcome to the Future
GA’s rapid ascension into the Information Age leaves us with some questions. Some might ask: can’t this data be used against me? The short answer is no. There are a number of firewalls that make any data submitted to NGAFID off limits to enforcement (and remember that under the FAA’s Compliance Program, enforcement is a tool reserved for willful failure to comply with safety regulations). Remember too that voluntary reporting has a long and successful track record in both commercial aviation and, through the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System, in GA. The FAA fully understands that such systems require trust, which has been a hallmark of the safety reporting programs the agency has sponsored.
Others might ask the famous WIIFM (what’s in it for me) question. The most immediate benefit is that solutions like the NGAFID allow you to analyze your own performance and catch small errors before they become big ones. You can also detect changes in your flying. I remember one particularly frustrating session with touch-and-go landings when I just couldn’t figure out why it went so poorly. I eventually determined that I was too fast on approach. FDM would have made it far easier to see the problem. FDM also means that by working together we can limit not only personal frustration, but also more dangerous outcomes.
