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since 1995. FOQA involves tapping into previously unused or underused information from flight data recorders. Before FOQA this data sat unused until a mishap occurred. After the inci- dent it provided mishap investigators with a wealth of information about a crash to help determine causal factors. The commercial aviation industry found that by regularly collecting and analyzing flight data they could derive meaningful, manageable, and action- able information that could then be used to make sound decisions to im- prove maintenance, operations, train- ing, and safety in both day-to-day operations and long-term planning. The aggregation of flight data collected after every flight provided an unprece- dented level of visibility into informa- tion that would normally be unknown if we relied solely on mishap investiga- tions, hazard reports, and the various assessments and inspections currently in our safety toolbox. The collection, analysis, and sharing of data could re- veal out-of-norm trends, identify iso- lated anomalies or events that would otherwise go undetected but that could be precursors to a mishap, and confirm problem areas identified by aircrew through other voluntary reporting pro- grams. Information could be specific to one single event or broadly applied across an entire platform, community, or enterprise. Data analysis could be used to justify changes to policies and procedures, to improve training, and to eliminate inefficient or unsafe opera- tions. In September 2002 the Secretary of Defense inquired into what could be done to reverse the increasing mishap rate. In response a proposal was made to investigate the usefulness of FOQA in a military aviation environment. Out of this proposal evolved military FOQA, or MFOQA (pronounced em- foe-qua). In September 2004 a demon- stration project was initiated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carde- rock, MD, using MFOQA prototypes to develop and refine MFOQA processes and concepts of operations in an operational setting with operational user participation. The project centered on a spirally developed prototype em- ployed at Maritime Strike Helicopter Squadron 41, an SH–60B FRS at Naval Air Station North Island, and VMFA(AW)–242, an operational F/A–18D squadron at MCAS Mira- mar. The demonstration focused on squadron-level flight data analytical and visualization capabilities for post- flight aircrew debrief and aircraft sys- tem performance analysis and troubleshooting. Based on the success of this demonstration a formal pro- gram of record was approved in De- cember 2005 for the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD, to develop, produce, and deploy MFOQA. Two challenges impede the imple- mentation and successful use of MFOQA, one technological and one cultural. The first challenge involves the actual collection of data to be ana- lyzed. Many older military aircraft do not have a flight data recording capa- bility. Newer aircraft have varying lev- els of data quantity, fidelity, format, and ease of retrieval. Without flight data it is impossible to vigorously ana- lyze flights for events, anomalies, and trends. Without a common standard for data collection and recording it is very difficult to effectively use the data available from a multitude of plat- forms. Commercial aviation has had the benefit of an internationally man- dated industry standard for flight data recorders since 1958. Military aircraft were exempt from the requirement to install flight data recorders. That changed when the T–43A (the military equivalent of a Boeing 737) carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed in mountainous terrain near Dubrovnik, Croatia in April 1996. Since then there has been an initiative to install crash survivable flight inci- dent recorders or deployable flight in- cident recorders on military aircraft, but it wasn’t until promulgation of Of- fice of the Chief of Naval Operations In- struction 13210.1 in May 2007 that a mandate to standardize flight data recording capabilities was made. The second challenge involves a mindset change amongst naval avia- 14 <a href="http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette">www.mca-marines.org/gazette</a> M a r i n e C o r p s G a z e t t e • M a y 2 0 0 9 IDEAS & ISSUES (AVIATION) Two challenges impede the implementation and successful use of MFOQA. . . .
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