FOQA Program in China

1. FOQA Program in China Office of Aviation Safety, CAAC

2. CAAC FOQA Concept • FOQA is a program for the routine collection and analysis of Flight Operational data to monitor the crew and aircraft performance. The results of analysis will be applied in improving operational program and/or standards.

3. Why Needs FOQA? • Background • The increasing rate of commercial aircraftsis 23.3% between 1991 -1994.

4. Why Needs FOQA? • Background • 3 commercial flight Accidents in 1992, 262 people died • 4 commercial flight Accidents in 1993, 72 people died • 2 commercial flight Accidents in 1994, 160 people died

5. Why Needs FOQA?

6. Why Needs FOQA? • Main Cause • Management（Lack of scientific monitoring ways and means） • Basic facilities（Lack of advanced facilities） • Training（Lack of training）

7. Why Needs FOQA? • Resolvents • To import advanced airborne facilities (QAR/DAR) • To establish scientific flight data analysis system • To detect and analyse anomalies • To train pilots aiming at their operation technology • To monitor engine performance trend

8. How to develop FOQA? Actions taken by CAAC • Issue Airworthiness Directive, and force to install airborne QAR/DAR facilities • Issue regulations to adhere to • Inspect and check to improve monitoring level

9. How to develop FOQA? Actions of the Airlines • Comprehensively install QAR or equivalent facility • Set up standing organizations, and equip with specialists • Entirely monitor flight crew operating quality and engine

10. History of FOQA in CAAC • 1997 • Established QAR work leading group • The head of the group is the vice minister with responsibility for aviation safety of CAAC • Specific objective of FOQA: monitor flight operation, insure flight safety • Set the technical requirements for airborne equipment and ground supporting systems • Define to immediately develop FOQA program in commercial airlines • Issue Airworthiness Directive:all commercial aircraft must install QAR or equivalent equipmentfor FOQA

11. History of FOQA in CAAC （Cont.） • 1997－2000 • CAAC held many conferences to solve some problems discovering in FOQA • 2000 • Held “CAAC FOQA Work Conference” • The vice minister taking charge in aviation safety summarized FOQA work of the past three years, advanced the new developing requests during the meeting. • Issued Administrative Regulations on FOQA work

12. History of FOQA in CAAC （Cont.） • 2001－2004 • CAAC edited plenty of FOQA training courses • Hundreds of people worked for FOQA program attended training • Organized 2 special inspects for FOQA work

13. Introduce “Administrative Regulations on FOQA work”

14. Introduce “Administrative Regulations on FOQA work” (Cont.) • Regulation is divided into four parts including General, Equipment and Monitoring Requirements, Organization Setting and Staff, Operations. • Supervision system of flight quality monitoring work has been defined in the Regulation General • Regulation requests Airlines making monthly trend analysis • Regulation requests the monitoring result has to be submitted to governmental departments

15. Supervision System Figure of Flight Quality Monitoring in Civil Aviation of China CAAC Principal Minister FSD Certify monitoring items and standard ASO Develop regulations, comprehensive management AAD Airworthiness certification of airborne equipment Regional Administration Supervision management of local area CASTC Technical support and service, specific check

16. Result of FOQA Program • In the view of specific checks in 2002 91% of Chinese commercial aircraft and 85% of flights are under FOQA Program. It takes a few years for civil aviation of China to has reached the monitoring rate of developed aviation countries

17. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • Airlines have found and solved a lot of hidden safety problems e.g.，Incorrect landing operating Air China found a lot of hard landing in B737-800 through FOQA program. They found the pilots of B737-800 come from B737-300 fleets, and the operating ways for B737-800 is more near “heavy aircraft” (CMTW over 100 tons) than “large aircraft”(CMTW between 25-100 tons), but the pilots didn't understand it. After training, the rate of hard landing rapidly went down.

18. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • Airlines have found and solved a lot of hidden safety problems • e.g.，Find Hidden risk of engine failure • Aug.,2001, the ENG. Monitoring People of china northwest airlines found B2301 Eng.1#△EGT↑、△FF↑、△N2↓、EGTM↓、VIBH↑，they issued EO to check the HPT and HPC of Eng.1#, the aircraft crews found serious damage in the entire 7th. Rotor vanes of HPC. Changing the eng.#1 to avoid one engine failure in flight.

19. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • Obvious decrease of accident occurrence rate

20. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • Obvious decrease of incident occurrence rate

21. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • In safety management • To forward the Safety Gate, and prevent the Accidents and incidents • Safety management become more scientific and canonical • To know more safety information • To explain impersonality safety problem using flight data • To establish data basis in safety management

22. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • In flight crew training • To make flight procedure standardization • To make flight operating data standardization • To make flight style preciseness • To improve whole diathesis of pilots group

23. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • FOQA is becoming the friend of pilots • Pilots can know themselves shortage in flight operation • To study more experiences through detected events • To clear mistiness of flight operation • The failure phenomenon found by pilot can be explained using flight data

24. Result of FOQA Program (cont.) • In maintenance • To reduce the occurrence of some engine IFSDs • To become good co-worker of maintenance people • In benefit • To become important data source of depressing cost

25. Future Plan • Further perfect the regulations of FOQA • Strengthen governmental supervision and inspection to this task • Fully utilize the information obtained from monitoring to implement industrial safe management • Issue uniform CAAC lowest monitoring items and criterions to lead FOQA program of Airlines

26. Future Plan (Cont.) • Encourage airlines to combine the monitoring result with flight training, improve the integral quality of pilots • Encourage airlines to exploit other applications of FOQA • Strengthen the training for FOQA people • Enhance international exchange and cooperation on FOQA

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