Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First (2023)
Chapter: Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff
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Appendix B: Speakers, Papers, and Literature Review - Data Gathering
Appendix C
Next Chapter: Appendix D: Committee Member Biosketches
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
Appendix C
Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff
During the course of its work, the committee reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the staff of the Human Intervention and Motivational Study (HIMS), the Airline Pilots Association, International (ALPA), and the Office of U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (the lead Congressional sponsor for the National Academies study). The committee sent requests for data and requests for potential speakers at the workshop or to present to the committee. This appendix details the timing of those committee communications with the various offices for data, lists the information requested by the committee that was not provided by the various offices, and states the rationale for that decision if it was provided to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
| Date | NAS-FAA Interaction | NAS-HIMS Interaction | NAS-ALPA Interaction | NAS-Shaheen’s Office Interaction | Related Outcome(s) (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 27, 2022 | HIMS Program Manager initially offered to share queries and results from the HIMS database and set up a confidentiality data-sharing agreement. | No response provided to NAS. | |||
| September 2022 | Project staff and committee members attended the annual HIMS Basic Education Seminar in September 2022 to learn about how the program operates. Subsequently, the committee sought to obtain more detailed descriptions of the program experience from the general pilot population. | ||||
| October 25, 2022 | Draft workshop agenda sent to ALPA, including names of invited pilots chosen by the committee for their expertise. | ALPA provided alternative pilots in current leadership positions. |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
| Date | NAS-FAA Interaction | NAS-HIMS Interaction | NAS-ALPA Interaction | NAS-Shaheen’s Office Interaction | Related Outcome(s) (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 26-31, 2022 | NAS-invited pilots decommit to present at workshop. | ALPA senior leadership cited those without direct HIMS expertise should not present. | |||
| November 3, 2022 | Committee requested data from the FAA-funded HIMS database. | The HIMS Advisory Board denied access, asserting the contract with the FAA and concerns over confidentiality and data disclosure might erode program integrity. | |||
| November 3, 2022 | The committee requested a copy of the FAA-APLA contract. | No immediate response provided to NAS. | |||
| November 7, 2022 | Committee created a “Call for Perspectives” tool for gathering lived experiences and requested that HIMS and FADAP officials distribute through their internal networks for confidential submission of data. | The committee received a total of 1,200 responses; 4 were from pilots. |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
| Date | NAS-FAA Interaction | NAS-HIMS Interaction | NAS-ALPA Interaction | NAS-Shaheen’s Office Interaction | Related Outcome(s) (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 9, 2022 | The committee again requested access to the HIMS database. | ALPA asserted the contract with HIMS restricted access to the database. | |||
| December 2, 2022 | The committee requested custom language so that ALPA could run queries by their staff to assuage possible confidentiality concerns. | ALPA asserted sophisticated searches may not result in accurate or reliable results. No data was received. | |||
| December 6, 2022 | Committee was informed that Senator Shaheen’s staff contacted ALPA representatives to allow the committee access to HIMS data. | ALPA asserted that lack of standardized data might lead to inaccurate results and negatively affect analysis. | |||
| December 14, 2022 | The committee and Senator Shaheen’s office requested copy of the contract between FAA and HIMS. | Copy of the contract was delivered to NAS. |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
| Date | NAS-FAA Interaction | NAS-HIMS Interaction | NAS-ALPA Interaction | NAS-Shaheen’s Office Interaction | Related Outcome(s) (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 15, 2022 | After review of the contract, the committee noted that the FAA owned the data, not ALPA, and indicated that access to the data would assist the National Academies to fulfill the congressional mandate. | ||||
| December 21, 2022 | FAA noted that full access would not be provided, rather they offered to provide aggregate data related to HIMS. | No immediate response provided to NAS. | |||
| January 30, 2023 | The committee asserted its request for HIMS data. | Data was not received by NAS. |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
| Date | NAS-FAA Interaction | NAS-HIMS Interaction | NAS-ALPA Interaction | NAS-Shaheen’s Office Interaction | Related Outcome(s) (if any) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 3, 2023 | Senator Shaheen’s staff noted the lack of cooperation and access to the data and would inform future possible actions with regard to the HIMS database. | No data received by NAS. |
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
Suggested Citation:
"Appendix C: Communications Between the Committee and the Federal Aviation Administration, Human Intervention and Motivational Study, Airline Pilots Association, International, and Congressional Staff." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Substance Misuse Programs in Commercial Aviation: Safety First. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
doi: 10.17226/27025.
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