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Jon Krosnick of Stanford University, who helped develop
the pilot survey, said it could have made the skies safer.
"Why then, given that benefit, would the government
prefer to shut the program down?" Krosnick told ABC News. "Well, certainly
one possibility -- that the rates of events are in some cases are higher
than people might expect."
The program, called the National Aviation Operations
Monitoring Service, grew out of a government goal to reduce aviation accidents
by 80 percent over 10 years. That goal was set in 1997 by an aviation commission
chaired by then Vice President Al Gore.
NASA spent at least $8.5 million to design and conduct
the survey.
The questionnaire covered dozens of safety issues including
runway incursions, near misses and engine failure. One source affiliated
with the project said it was turning up many more reports of incidents
than were officially reported to the FAA.
"There's no question the FAA did not want this out
in any way, shape or form," that source told ABC News.
The FAA denies this.
"We are always interested in safety data and the analysis
and mining of aviation safety data," FAA acting administrator Bobby Sturgell
said.
Sturgell said the FAA also questioned the survey methodology.
"You could not tell where the data came from, and you
could not tell if it was the same event being reported on [twice,]" Sturgell
said. "There were a number of things which would not enable you to analyze
the data and come up with valid actions based on it."
But Krosnick said no one previously questioned the
validity of the data.
"There was a lot of testing in advance," he said,"
to make sure the questionnaire was designed appropriately, that we would
get high response rates, and that we would be able to get accurate and
honest reports from pilots."
The Associated Press said it had been trying, unsuccessfully,
to get the data released through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Just how sensitive the information is seems clear in
a document from NASA denying that FOIA request. NASA said "release of the
data ... could materially affect the public confidence in, and the commercial
welfare of, the air carriers."
The union representing the majority of commercial pilots
in the United States said the program is tremendously valuable. "What good
is information unless we're able to analyze it and use it? Were some people
trying to hide from this?" Captain John Prater, president of the Air Line
Pilot's Association, asked.
Members of Congress have now demanded that the data
be preserved and presented to lawmakers.
"If the data shows that there are problems with safety,
then we need to know that and we need to fix it," Rep. Brad Miller D-N.C.,
said. Miller, who chairs the House Science and Technology investigations
and oversight subcommittee, said, "We shouldn't just decide not to release
(the information) rather than have people worry about it."
In a statement, NASA administrator Michael Griffin
said, "As a general practice, I believe that NASA research and data should
be widely available."
The administrator has now taken steps to make sure
the safety survey data is preserved and the agency is looking into whether
it can release it. A NASA spokesman told ABC News the data is still being
analyzed, and that an analysis won't be finished until the end of the year.
