Welcome to ATSAP
As part of our overall safety goals, ATSAP has established a system for our Controllers and Other Employees to voluntarily identify and report safety and operational concerns. The collected information is reviewed and analyzed to facilitate early detection and improved awareness of operational deficiencies and adverse trends. The information specified in employee reports is used to identify the root causes and determine appropriate remedial actions which are then monitored for effectiveness. This process promotes collaboration between employee work groups and management for the early identification of hazards and to maintain a proactive approach regarding safety concerns and corrective action recommendations.
 |  |  |  |
 |
 |
- The ATO, in cooperation with its employee labor organizations, has established a voluntary safety reporting program called the Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP) for Controllers and Other Employees. ATSAP is modeled after the very successful Aviation Safety Action Programs (ASAP) used in the aviation industry.
Approximately one hundred (100) aviation companies have operating ASAP programs. ASAP can be traced back to the early 1970s and a voluntary safety reporting program at United Airlines. ASAPs use employee input to identify significant safety concerns and issues; operational deficiencies; non-compliance with regulations; deviations from company policies and procedures; and unusual safety events. In partnership with each participating aviation organization, employee labor organizations, and the FAA, each ASAP report is investigated and corrective actions determined based on a non-disciplinary approach to improving safety.
-
ATSAP is modeled after the airlines ASAP (Aviation Safety Action Program). The program is non-punitive, and serves as one leg of a good Safety Management System. ATSAP also helps develop a strong safety culture. The intent is to identify and report all events that may or did lead to a breakdown in safety, or increase risk to our operation. If we want to mitigate all safety risks, we need to identify and study the thousands of unreported events that may reveal the one critical safety event that could result in disaster.
ATSAP reporting must be non-punitive. An employee cannot be decertified nor can any credentialing action take place if an employee reports an event to the ATSAP program. ATSAP provides a systematic approach for Controllers and others providing or supporting the provision of air traffic services (per MOU with NATCA) including Air Traffic Assistants and Flight Data Communications specialists (per MOU with NAGE)as well as managers when engaged in providing air traffic control services. Through self-reporting of safety events and cooperative follow-up, appropriate actions can be taken to improve flight safety.
-
ATSAP will provide safety data that would otherwise never see the light of day without voluntary participation. For personnel involved in a safety event, even a serious one, the program promises the response to reports will be both non-punitive and non-disciplinary. Names are not important, events are. Employees who participate in the program will be provided feedback on actions taken to correct safety threats. Any strong safety culture must be a reporting culture. Any effective reporting culture must be a just culture. By moving beyond a reliance on reactive behaviors, the program and its participants become part of proactive solutions that mitigate risk in advance.
-
The purpose of the Confidential Information Share Program (CISP) is to demonstrate the benefit of conducting proactive safety assessments through the sharing and analysis of information collected through the Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP) and airlines' Aviation Safety Action Programs (collectively ASAP). These programs support the collection, assessment, and review of safety events from the perspectives of air traffic controllers and pilots. Merging perspectives is critical to understanding the causal factors of both known and previously unknown events. By providing a more complete representation of the National Airspace System (NAS) operations, the FAA and participating airlines can more accurately identify potential hazards and develop more robust mitigation strategies.
DATA Analysis and Sharing: CISP has become a reliable source of qualitative data that is used to identify and develop corrective measures and mitigation strategies for current safety concerns in the NAS. Reports received from air traffic personnel are evaluated by the ATSAP Analysis Team (AAT) to determine if the information may be beneficial to the participating airlines. The AAT consists of members representing ATO management and NATCA. Conversely, the airlines' Event Review Committee (ERC) for the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) determines which pilot reports may be of benefit or interest to ATSAP. The narratives are then de-identified and forwarded through the CISP website to the other party. There are several ATSAP briefing sheets found on this site regarding issues and events learned through sharing data with our airline partners. These briefing sheets include:
• December 20, 2012 - "ATC WISHED Pilots Knew . . ."
• November 8, 2012 - B747 Holding at LAX & RASKL1 STAR
• October 25, 2012 - ORD6 SID & Language Proficiency
• October 15, 2012 - Weather Deviations
Current airlines participating in CISP include United, Southwest, American, Spirit, Chautauqua, Shuttle America, Frontier, Republic Airlines, American Eagle, US Airways, NetJets, and Alasaka Airlines. ATSAP is sharing data with a total of 12 airlines, and will add other partners as resources allow.
- Links
