MILITARY Flight Operations Quality Assurance - MFOQA ERAU - FDM Workshop Daytona Beach FL 8 January 2007 Dick Healing, Sr. Partner, R³ Consulting LLC
Sharing Information Commercial Military CVFDR CRM TCAS EGPWS FOQA
Commercial Aviation Historical Accident Rate --- look familiar? 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 Hull loss accident rate 5 0 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 Year
Where do we go from here??
It helps to be lucky, but
It s better to be EXCELLENT!!!
The Road to EXCELLENCE is built on a foundation of DATA using understanding analyzing
Step #1: Recorders no longer too heavy, too big, too costly
Aviation Safety Info Sharing Military Commercial Responding to ValuJet and other crashes FAA Funded Commercial Airlines FOQA 1996 (United, Continental, US Airways, Alaska Airlines) FOQA Briefed to Military in 1999
Aviation Safety Info Sharing Military Commercial 1999 Joint Service Safety Chiefs briefed 2001 JSSC recommended MFOQA 2000-2001 USAF & USN began demoprojs C-17, F/A-18 2003 SECDEF Snowflake -50% 2003 USAF begins MFOQA T6A 2004 Joint Safety Oversight Council Rec. 2005 DoD Mandates Funding 2007 FYXX Services Program Funds
USAF MFOQA
USAF MFOQA PROGRAM Based at Kirtland AFB USAF Safety Ctr C-17 and T6A initial fleets (existing H/W) Learned: (a) T6A flight profiles mods to eliminate low oil pressure, improve OCF recovery procedures; (b) C-17 turn out procedure changed to eliminate wing tip strike risk; (c) C-17 training changed to eliminate hard landings 2006 C-32 and C-40 2007 C-37 and KC-135 by 2011 14 fleets in program
T-6 Changed Profile Oil Excursions 70 Rate per 1000 Hours 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jun-03 Jul-03 Aug-03 Sep-03 Oct-03 Nov-03 Dec-03 Jan-04
Aviation Safety Improvement NAVY starts & ends with DATA MFOQA Searching for Excellence!
US Navy MFOQA PROGRAM No FDRs in 1985; paperwork started DFIRS since 1993; OCF event in 1994 1999 JSSC Brief; 2001 JSSC Memo Based at Pax River (PMA-209) Based on S/W using existing H/W 2002 F/A-18 Demo at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station 2003 MFOQA Demo at Test Pilot School (F/A-18) and NAS North Island SH-60 2005 SH-60 Demo using HUMS/IMDS Learned: Savings from Maintenance Data
Tail Pylon changed Inspected numerous times Intermediate Tail Rotor Gear Box Replaced (2.19 IPS) These levels would eventually lead to a catastrophic failure. We saved at least three lives by taking this A/C off the flight schedule.
US Navy MFOQA PROGRAM Future Plans: 2007-08 F/A-18 C/D Fleet 2007-10 T-45C Training Jets 2007-08 MH-60R/S Helicopter Fleet 2008-10 CH-53E (w/hums- IMDS) 2010-13 MV-22 Osprey
US ARMY MFOQA..\My Documents\My Pictures\apache2.jpg
US ARMY MFOQA 1990s - South Carolina AH-64 Informal Effort - Army initially focused on MDRS (Maintenance Data Recorder System) Analysis. 2005 Directed to implement MFOQA 2005 Army Aviation Warfighting Center..\My Documents\My Pictures\apache2.jpg Lead 2006 Development Exercise 2006 future plans AH-64, LUH, H-60, CH-47
US ARMY MFOQA KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT M-O-S-T Maintenance Operations Safety..\My Documents\My Pictures\apache2.jpg Training Potential Uses: Flight Visualization Flight data analysis and trending Battalion Centralized Information Portal
Army Aviation Flight Operations Quality Assurance
Army Aviation Flight Operations Quality Assurance
Summary Improvement will require not only technological solutions, but also cultural change a willingness to challenge standard practices, and question current organizational patterns and command practices. General Richard B. Myers, Fmr. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
Aviation Safety Improvement starts & ends with DATA Questions?
Risk Management Lifecycle 80.00 70.00 60.00 Identify the hazard Assess the risk Analyze control measures Make control decisions Implement risk controls Events per 1000 Flights 50.00 40.00 30.00 Notional Risk Threshold Monitor effectiveness 20.00 10.00 0.00 Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov 4 Month Moving Average
MFOQA Example C-17 High Bank Angle High risk event identified C-17 bank angle > 8 at touchdown = wing strike Analyst configured system to flag bank angles > 20 below 100 AGL System reported 36 events in one year time period Data utilized to determine causal link and risk 72% at one location - practice assault landing
MFOQA Example C-17 High Bank Angle
MFOQA ELEMENTS Data Acquisition Unit Moveable Media PC Ground Station