The Global Aviation Information Network (GAIN)'Using Information Proactively to Improve Aviation Safety

摘要

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed the Global AviationInformation Network (GAIN) as a voluntary, privately owned and operatednetwork of systems that collect and use aviation safety information aboutflight operations, air traffic control operations, and maintenance to improveaviation safety worldwide.The need to find a better way to improve safety results from the fact thatthe worldwide aviation accident rate, after enjoying a decline to acommendably low rate, has been stubbornly constant for the last 10-15years, and the worldwide aviation community is exploring how to get offthis "plateau." The desirability of using information to get off the plateauhas been demonstrated by the successes over the years of the airlinesthat have been doing it, as well as the testimony that is so common inaccident hearings, that "we all knew about that problem"-- revealing thatproblems were known but not acted upon. The capability to useinformation proactively has been enhanced by technological advancesthat facilitate more effective collection and use of information aboutadverse trends. Experience has demonstrated that the systematiccollection and sharing of aviation safety information can (a) facilitate thecorrection of troublesome trends before they cause accidents, and (b)result in significant immediate cost savings in operations andmaintenance.Because all accidents ultimately trace to human error somewhere in theaccident chain, and because human error cannot be eliminated, thechallenge in being proactive with information is how to use that informationto make the aviation system less error prone and more error tolerant. Thisinvolves a major paradigm expansion, namely, moving beyond focusingprimarily upon the operator-- e.g., with regulation, training, andpunishment-- toward focusing more upon improving the system in whichthe operator is operating. This does not reduce the operator's safetyaccountability; to the contrary, it increases the safety accountability of allthe others who design, build, and maintain the system.Other transportation modes are also developing information collection andsharing programs in an effort to use information proactively. Outside of