FAA ISSUES RULE TO IMPROVE AIRLINE DATA SHARING

FAA ISSUES RULE TO IMPROVE AIRLINE DATA SHARING    The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it has issued a final rule to protect voluntarily provided information from disclosure, in an effort to encourage the flow of safety and security data from airlines.
   The FAA rule, which takes effect July 25, is in response to Congress directing the agency to protect from disclosure information that aids in improving safety and security.
   'This rule will allow the FAA to collect the hard data we need to develop a much broader view of airline safety,' said Jane F. Garvey, FAA administrator. 'The information that will be shared with the FAA potentially could prevent incidents and accidents.'
   Information already available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act, such as accident and incident reports, and inspection and enforcement records, will continue to be released to the public.
   The rule aims to encourage data sharing programs such as Flight Operations Quality Assurance, which uses flight data recorder technology to collect and analyze data on routine flights. Airlines can collect data about everyday safety trends in their operations and share it with the FAA, the agency said.
   The FAA would use the data to identify industry-wide safety trends and effectively target resources and correct potential safety problems.