Aviation Safety - Continued

skill mix of the workforce of the 21st century, and recruit the necessary

talent in a resource-constrained environment.4 In the light of these studies'

results, we would caution that the organizational and cultural changes

envisioned by the Commission may require years of concerted effort by all

parties concerned.

In connection with resource management, FAA's fiscal year 1998 budget

request reveals some difficult choices that may have to be made among

safety-related programs. For example, FAA proposes increasing its safety

inspection workforce by 273 persons while decreasing some programs for

airport surface safety, including a program designed to reduce runway

incursions. The National Transportation Safety Board has repeatedly

included runway incursions on its annual lists of its "most wanted" critical

safety recommendations. FAA's budget request includes a reduction in the

Runway Incursion program from $6 million in fiscal year 1997 to less than

$3 million in fiscal year 1998. Although FAA set a goal in 1993 to improve

surface safety by reducing runway incursions by 80 percent by the year

2000 from the 1990 high of 281, the results have been uneven; there were

186 runway incursions in 1993 and 246 in 1995. As was shown by the

November 1994 runway collision in St. Louis, Missouri, between a

commercial carrier and a private plane, such incidents can have fatal

consequences--2 people lost their lives. It is unclear what progress will be

made in this area, given the proposed budget cuts.

Similarly, we have reported since 1987 that the availability of complete,

accurate, and reliable FAA data is critical to expanding the margin of

safety.5 However, funding for FAA's National Aviation Safety Data Analysis

Center, a facility designed to enhance aviation safety by the rigorous

analysis of integrated data from many aviation-related databases, is slated

to be reduced from $3.7 million in fiscal year 1997 to $2 million in fiscal

year 1998.

The Commission's report stresses that safety improvements cannot

depend solely on FAA's hands-on inspections but must also rely on

partnerships with the aviation industry in such areas as self-monitoring

and certification. Several programs for the airlines' self-disclosure of

safety problems have already contributed to identifying and resolving

Challenge 2000: Recommendations for Future Aviation Safety Regulation, prepared for FAA's Office

of Policy, Planning, and International Aviation by Booz·Allen & Hamilton, Inc. (Apr. 1996).

Aviation Safety: Data Problems Threaten FAA Strides on Safety Analysis System (GAO/AIMD-95-27,

Feb. 8, 1995); Department of Transportation: Enhancing Policy and Program Effectiveness Through

Improved Management (GAO/RCED-87-3, Apr. 13, 1987).

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GAO/T-RCED-97-90 Aviation Safety and Security