{"425651":{"#nid":"425651","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Dr. Amy Pritchett weighs in on air traffic safety in NRC report","body":[{"value":"Jun 13, 2014\u003Ctable width=\u0022150\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00225\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\u0022rteleft\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDavid S. Lewis Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering Dr. Amy Pritchett served as chair of the committee that issued the report on air traffic safety\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA report released this week by the National Research Council indicates worker fatigue and overly demanding shift schedules could be compromising air traffic safety.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAE professor Dr. Amy Pritchett chaired the 12-person Committee for the Study of FAA Air Traffic Controller Staffing, which issued the report,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nap.edu\/catalog.php?record_id=18824\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003ET\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eransportation Research Board Special Report 314: Federal Aviation Administration s Approach for Determining Future Air Traffic Controller Staffing Needs\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;on Friday.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the weekend, Pritchett was widely consulted by national media to comment on the NRC report, which called attention to a common scheduling practice that allows air traffic controllers to work four shifts in five days.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECritics of the so-called 2-2-1 scheduling model contend that it creates an unacceptable interrruption\u0026nbsp; in the controllers\u0027 sleep patterns.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECheck out this interview of Pritchett on\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/videos\/faa-controllers-have-extreme-schedules-report-shows\/\u0022\u003ECBS\u0026nbsp;News\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FAA has been stepping up its monitoring of fatigue issues since 2011, when several air traffic controllers were discovered to have fallen asleep during their shifts. Officials from that agency said Friday they are reviewing the NRC report.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the report\u2019s other key findings:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWhile the FAA\u2019s current models for estimating the number of air traffic controllers required at terminals and airport towers is suitable, models used to staff air traffic control centers between airports can be improved;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association should jointly address the fatigue problem by creating controller work schedules that incorporate fatigue mitigation strategies;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe FAA should analyze a wide range of data, such as accident and incident reports and voluntary reports by controllers, to identify relationships between staffing and safety;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe controller workforce should be involved in staffing decisions, particularly as knowledge emerges about relevant safety issues;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe FAA should ensure that staffing continues to be appropriate as it implements the new air traffic operations environment associated with the Next Generation Transportation System, a modernization initiative to shift air traffic management from ground-based radar to a satellite system.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe congressionally mandated report examined both the methods used by the FAA to estimate how many controllers are needed to staff its air traffic control facilities and the use of these estimates to properly distribute controllers across facilities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAir traffic controllers are the frontline operators of the nation\u2019s airspace system, and their primary function is to safely and efficiently separate aircraft from one another and the terrain, as well as issue safety alerts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FAA employs approximately 15,000 air traffic controllers, at a cost of approximately $2.8 billion or 18 percent of the total FAA budget.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe committee expressed concern about shift schedules that contribute to fatigue, especially those in which controllers work five eight-hour shifts over four consecutive days, the last one being a midnight shift. Although the schedule is popular among controllers because it allows them 80 hours off afterward, it likely results in severely reduced cognitive performance during the midnight shift due to fatigue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFAA headquarters currently provide no consistent guidance or tools to local facilities to help them develop their operational schedules. As a result, each facility develops its own schedule independently of FAA\u2019s staff planning process, which may not be the most efficient or incorporate best practices in fatigue risk management, the committee found.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe FAA established a fatigue risk management program, but recent budget cuts eliminated the program\u2019s ability to proactively monitor fatigue concerns and to investigate whether fatigue risk reduction initiatives are effective. A lack of safety and performance metrics and information about staffing methods limited the committee\u2019s ability to assess the cost-effectiveness of FAA\u2019s overall staffing process.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe FAA faces many challenges in identifying the level of controller staffing needed to ensure safe and cost- effective services nationally and at its 315 facilities, starting with the lack of definitive methods for relating staffing levels to safety,\u201d said committee chair Amy Pritchett.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOther complications include the uncertainty of air traffic forecasts and the fact that a large percentage of the controllers are eligible to retire, as it can take years to train new controllers. The committee\u2019s recommendations aim to enable controller staffing decisions that are consistent; that are driven by proper science and data analysis; and that will address relationships between ensuring safety, meeting the operational needs of the aviation community, and demonstrating cost- effectiveness.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe study was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted in 1863. The National Research Council is the principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit\u003Ca title=\u0022www.national-academies.org\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/www.national-academies.org\/\u0022\u003Ewww.national-academies.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dr. Amy Pritchett was widely consulted by national media to comment on the NRC report, which called attention to a common scheduling practice that allows air traffic controllers to work four shifts in five days."}],"uid":"27456","created_gmt":"2015-07-16 12:20:40","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:08","author":"Britanny Grace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-13T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"14369","name":"Amy Pritchett"},{"id":"4341","name":"FAA"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["communications@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}