An ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will conduct a study on radiation exposure to crew members onboard airlines operating under a Part 121 certificate of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Specifically, the committee will:

• Assess available data and literature on radiation exposure to flight crews.
• Evaluate existing computational models that analyze and estimate radiation exposure and health risks.
• Identify potential harmful radiation sources at aviation altitudes and select a flight path or paths that would provide a bound or bounds on understanding plausible worst-case radiation exposure, considering the routes of transpolar flights at high altitudes while receptive to considering other routes.
• Determine availability and types of individual exposure information and health data as well as knowledge gaps and limitations for potential epidemiological studies.
• Consider potential mitigation measures that could reduce radiation exposure to flight crews.

Based on its assessment, the committee will develop a short consensus report with its findings and conclusions, and, as appropriate, recommendations to inform strategies for monitoring, assessing, and mitigating radiation exposure levels and any associated health impacts. The committee will engage stakeholders, including manufacturers and operators of Part 121 aircraft, flight crews’ associations, and the Civil Medical Aerospace Institute of the FAA, in discussion of levels of radiation exposure, monitoring radiation levels, health risks, and potential mitigations.