[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 83 (Monday, May 3, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23486-23487]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-09201]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

[Docket No. FAA-2020-0936]


Agency Information Collection Activities: Requests for Comments; 
Clearance of a New Approval of Information Collection: Survey of 
Industry's Response to Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) 17007

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA 
invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) approval for a new information collection. 
The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on the following collection of information was published on 
October 8, 2020. The collection involves survey responses from U.S. air 
carrier (Part 121 and Part 135) employees who lead departments 
responsible for Operations and Standards, Training, and Safety to 
understand how industry has addressed recommendations from SAFO 17007 
and to inform future guidance on manual flight skill proficiency in 
future en-route and terminal environments. This information collection 
is necessary, as no other information sources have been identified that 
would provide the required information. Operator policies and 
procedures are not publicly shared; therefore, this is the only 
reliable method to gather anonymous information from a representative 
industry sample.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by June 2, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on 
the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Comments should be 
addressed to the attention of the Desk Officer, Department of 
Transportation/FAA, and sent via electronic mail to 
[email protected], or faxed to (202) 395-6974, or mailed to 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management 
and Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street NW, Washington, 
DC 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victor Quach by email at: 
[email protected]; phone: 202-267-3585, NextGen Human Factors 
Division, ANG-C1; 800 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20591.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Comments Invited: You are asked to 
comment on any aspect of this information collection, including (a) 
Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for FAA's 
performance; (b) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA 
to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information 
collection; and (d) ways that the burden could be minimized without 
reducing the quality of the collected information. The agency will 
summarize and/or include your comments in the request for OMB's 
clearance of this information collection.
    OMB Control Number: 2120-XXXX.
    Title: Survey of Industry's Response to Safety Alert for Operators 
(SAFO) 17007.
    Form Numbers: Not applicable.
    Type of Review: New information collection
    Background: The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment 
period soliciting comments on the following collection of information 
was published on October 8, 2020 (85 FR 6364). The Federal Aviation 
Administration (FAA) is developing guidance materials on maintaining 
manual flight skill proficiency in future en-route and terminal 
environments where pilots will have less opportunities to practice 
manual flight knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) in a highly 
automated environment. The FAA is conducting this survey of U.S. air 
carriers (Part 121 and Part 135) to determine how the organizations 
have incorporated the recommendations in SAFO 17007 into line 
operations and training. SAFO 17007 (linked below) encourages the 
development of training and line-operations policies to ensure that 
proficiency in manual flight operations is developed and maintained for 
air carrier pilots. https://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/safo/all_safos/media/2017/SAFO17007.pdf
    An invitation to complete a one-time electronic survey will be sent 
to U.S. air carrier (Part 121 and Part 135) employees who lead 
departments responsible for Operations and Standards, Training, and 
Safety. These personnel are responsible for implementing the SAFO's 
recommendations into line operations and training. All data provided 
will be kept private to the extent possible by law. To preclude the 
identification of individual responses, all respondents will be given a 
participant code that does not identify them or their organization. 
Only the project leaders will have access to the coding key, which will 
be destroyed after data

[[Page 23487]]

analyses are complete. Only analyses and reports of aggregate data will 
be produced and released.
    Failure to collect data on industry incorporation of SAFO 17007 
recommendations will impact the quality of future FAA guidance provided 
to address manual flight operations. As such, it may also jeopardize 
future manual flight operations in an increasingly automated 
environment. SAFO 17007 encourages operators to practice manual flight 
in an operational environment; however, increased use of flight deck 
automation from NextGen National Airspace improvements will limit 
practice opportunities resulting in an increased need to make other 
improvement, which may be addressed through future FAA guidance.
    Changes from 60-day Federal Register Notice (FRN): The 60-day FRN 
listed 1,224 employees of U.S. Part 121 and Part 135 operators as the 
potential number of respondents, 30 minutes for the average burden per 
response, and 621 total burden hours. The 30-day FRN revises the 
respondent universe to 972 employees due to an examination of DOT and 
FAA records of Part 121 and Part 135 operators and a decision to limit 
the respondent universe of Part 135 operators to those operating 3 or 
more turbo-jet aircraft. Average burden per response was corrected to 
20 minutes to reflect the average completion time instead of the upper 
estimate. This results in a new total burden estimate of 321 hours.
    Respondents: 972 employees of U.S. Part 121 and Part 135 operators 
who lead departments responsible for Operations and Standards, 
Training, and Safety.
    Frequency: One time.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 20 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 20 minutes per respondent, 321 total 
burden hours.

Victor Quach,
Scientific and Technical Advisor, Federal Aviation Administration.
[FR Doc. 2021-09201 Filed 4-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P