Boeing 767Atlas Air

TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Inform Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 119 certificate holders, air tour operators, fractional ownership programs, corporate flight departments, and governmental entities conducting public aircraft operations about the hiring process vulnerabilities identified in this accident, and revise Advisory Circular 120-68H, “Pilot Records Improvement Act and Pilot Records Database,” to emphasize that operators should include flight operations subject matter experts early in the records review process and ensure that significant training issues are identified and fully evaluated.

TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Implement the pilot records database and ensure that it includes all industry records for all training started by a pilot as part of the employment process for any Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 119 certificate holder, air tour operator, fractional ownership program, corporate flight department, or governmental entity conducting public aircraft operations regardless of the pilot’s employment status and whether the training was completed.

TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Ensure that industry records maintained in the pilot records database are searchable by a pilot’s certificate number to enable a hiring operator to obtain all background records for a pilot reported by all previous employers.

TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Establish a confidential voluntary data clearinghouse of deidentified pilot selection data that can be used to conduct studies useful for identifying effective, scientifically based pilot selection strategies. This program should be modeled after programs like Aviation Safety Information and Analysis Sharing and Flight Operations Quality Assurance.

TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Issue a safety alert for operators to inform pilots and operators of Boeing 767- and 757-series airplanes about the circumstances of this accident and alert them that, due to the close proximity of the speedbrake lever to the left go-around mode switch, it is possible to inadvertently activate the go-around mode when manipulating or holding the speedbrake lever as a result of unintended contact between the hand or wrist and the go around switch.

TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Convene a panel of aircraft performance, human factors, and aircraft operations experts to study the benefits and risks of adapting military automatic ground collision avoidance system technology for use in civil transport-category airplanes and make public a report on the committee’s findings.