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https://www.nationalacademies.org/trb/events

Development of an Aeromedical Safety Assurance System

The Office of Aerospace Medicine (AAM) must establish a safety assurance capability to comply with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) AVS Safety Management System (AVSSMS) requirements outlined in FAA Order VS 8000.367D. AAM currently lacks a systematic, evidence-based approach for monitoring whether medical risk mitigations, such as Special Issuance protocols, HIMS participation, and medication policies, are achieving their intended safety outcomes. Without a dedicated framework, AAM cannot fulfill its role in tracking the performance and effectiveness of medical safety risk controls across the National Airspace System (NAS), nor can it proactively detect shifts in risk level, emergent hazards, or unintended consequences of regulatory policy. This research will define, develop, and validate a medical safety assurance framework tailored to AAM’s oversight responsibilities. The project will establish safety performance indicators, explore integration of aviation safety and medical certification data, and evaluate the application of advanced analytics (e.g., AI/ML) to monitor outcomes. Outputs will enable AAM to make informed, risk-prioritized decisions about oversight policy, improve cross-AVS coordination (e.g., with AVP), and enhance resilience to medical-related threats to operational safety.