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NASA reconsiders withholding pilot survey data

October 22, 2007

NASA did not make any friends in the blogosphere when it withheld key parts of a controversial pilot survey requested by a news organization under the Freedom of Information Act. Well, as of this afternoon, the space agency is reconsidering its decision.

In a prepared statement, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said he had just learned about the situation and suggested he might not agree with the agency’s call. “I believe that NASA research and data should be widely available and subject to review and scrutiny,” he said, adding …

I am reviewing this Freedom of Information Act request to determine what, if any, of this information may legally be made public. NASA should focus on how we can provide information to the public — not on how we can withhold it. Therefore, I am asking NASA’s Associate Administrator for Aeronautics Research, Lisa Porter, to look into this situation, including ensuring that all survey data are preserved, and report to me as soon as possible.

So what’s been redacted? No one knows. Reports have called the national survey of pilots “unprecedented” that found safety problems like near collisions and runway interference occur “far more frequently than the government previously recognized.”

The Associated Press had sought the documents, but NASA said “nyet,” arguing that, “Release of the requested data, which are sensitive and safety-related, could materially affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies whose pilots participated in the survey.”

NASA, which doesn’t exactly have the greatest safety record itself, could redeem itself in the eyes of the flying public by releasing the National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service in its entirety, right now.

Come on, Mike. What are you waiting for?

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

3 comments

  • Evan

    Is the safety record of NASA really that bad? If you look at customer miles flown, like is done for airlines or automobiles, isn’t NASA fairly safe? While this may seem a digression from the point of the post, I think it’s important to point out that NASA has had a series of pretty impressive successes, as well.

    -Evan Doty

  • C S

    I live next door to a pilot who is never without a drink in his hand. I now ask for his schedule before flying out of Orlando. No way could he stop drinking 24 hours before flying. That scares me!

  • Steve

    “Release of the requested data, which are sensitive and safety-related, could materially affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies whose pilots participated in the survey.”

    Gee, it’s better to just let the airplanes crash and kill hundreds of passengers? They’ll never fly again – for sure. How do people with that mentality get these positions of responsibility? Especially when they’re not responsible themselves. This country has gone crazy with idiots running everything.

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