FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine 
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-25/12

Title and Subtitle: Aeromedical Certification Collaborative (ACC): Progress Report

Report Date: February 2025

Authors: Sienknecht T, Masterson P, Reston R, Ryan E, Hawley H, Sarkhel K

Abstract:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Aerospace Medicine (AAM) tasked the MITRE Corporation’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (MITRE CAASD) to continue outreach and engagement with aviation industry stakeholders to advance aeromedical collaboration and information sharing. This continues previous research which resulted in FAA and aviation industry co-creating the Aeromedical Certification Collaborative (ACC).

MITRE CAASD conducted several one-on-one workshops with ACC participants culminating in the creation of two working groups. The Study Working Group (WG) identified near-term research questions which could demonstrate the collaborative research approach of ACC, provide insights on gaps in data for aeromedical risk management, and identify potential data sources or activities requiring governance. The Framework WG defined requirements for a data sharing/governance model and shared expectations for future collaboration. The ACC participants met for a Winter Summit on January 30, 2025, in which they agreed to study Peer Support Programs (PSPs) and came to an initial consensus on the data sharing/governance model. In addition, MITRE CAASD determined that it was not yet feasible to use the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) technical environment and associated public-private partnership to conduct aeromedical safety research. ACC needs are being expressed as proposed requirements for future ASIAS/US AST consideration as part of ongoing transformation efforts within ASIAS and US AST.

The impact of this work is that AAM will be able to explore aeromedical safety questions requiring sensitive and proprietary information and use real-world insight into the primary drivers of and mitigations for aviation safety risk associated with pilot health to maximize public trust in aviation safety while minimizing cost and burden on pilots, airline operators, and the aviation industry.

Key Words: Safety Management Systems (SMS), Aeromedical Certification, Aviation Safety Risk Management, Collaboration, Stakeholder Outreach, Collaborative Risk Management

No. of Pages: 13