NASA Selects ARINC's AviNet^TM Network Service for Critical Airline Safety Program

May 22, 2007

Annapolis, Maryland—ARINC Incorporated has been awarded the wide-area network contract to support an important NASA safety initiative for commercial aviation, the NASA Ames Distributed National FOQA and ASAP (DNFA/DNAA) Archive Program.

ARINC’s Network Solutions Division is teamed with Battelle, the prime contractor that originally designed and implemented the program’s technology.

NASA’s aim is to provide a secure archive for research and discovery of systemic safety-related problems that may span multiple airlines, fleets, and regions. The DNFA/DNAA archive can retrieve and store selected Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) data from daily flights of thousands of commercial aircraft, as well as Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) reports submitted by employees of participating airlines.

FOQA programs attempt to identify recorded data from flights where deviations from norms take place. The aim is to pick out potential problems and correct them before they lead to accidents. ASAP programs seek to enhance aviation safety through the voluntary reporting of exceptional events by airline personnel. 

ARINC will implement its wide-area AviNet^TM IP network connectivity to support the program mission of evaluating automated flight recorder data and exceptional-event reports from participating U.S. airlines. Ten carriers are already in the program and more are expected to join. By choosing ARINC, NASA will immediately benefit from existing AviNet connections at a number of airlines. ARINC AviNet replaces dedicated commercial circuits and provides equal or better performance at reduced cost. AviNet will transport NASA’s data on demand to the central archive from servers at each airline. Data will also be re-distributed to participating research organizations and universities.

All data transmissions are governed by data confidentiality and security policies established by NASA in cooperation with the FAA and participating air carriers. A variety of procedural and IT safeguards ensure compliance with these requirements in order to maintain the anonymity of air carrier data providers. AviNet is an important element of that security solution.

“ARINC came through for us admirably, and I am grateful to them and to Battelle for working out a most satisfactory and affordable approach,” commented Dr. Irving Statler, NASA Ames Research Center Manager of Aviation Safety Monitoring and Modeling. Dr. Statler assisted the leadership of the Voluntary Safety Information Sharing Aviation Rulemaking Committee in evaluating ways to expand the DNFA/DNAA program while reducing operational costs.

AviNet’s reliability and availability meet today’s requirements for mission-critical airline communications—including high volume passenger reservation systems. The AviNet network is scalable to support growing needs of aviation for greater data bandwidth. AviNet security is based on industry best practices, and proactive monitoring and management is provided through the ARINC 24/7 Network Operations Center.

Battelle is the world's largest non-profit independent research and development organization, with 20,000 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including five national laboratories. Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle conducts $3.8 billion in R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management, and technology commercialization. Battelle provides innovative solutions to some of the world's most important problems including global climate change, sustainable energy technologies, high performance materials, next generation healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics, and advanced security solutions for people, infrastructure, and the nation. Battelle has a long history of developing successful commercial products in collaboration with its clients, ranging from products to fight diabetes, cancer, and heart disease to the development of the office copier machine (Xerox). As a non-profit charitable trust with an eye toward the future, Battelle actively supports and promotes science and math education.

ARINC Incorporated is the world leader in transportation communications and systems engineering. The company develops and operates communications and information processing systems and provides systems engineering and integration solutions to five key industries: airports, aviation, defense, government, and surface transportation. Founded to provide reliable and efficient radio communications for the airlines, ARINC is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, and operates key regional offices in London and Singapore, with over 3,200 employees worldwide. ARINC is ISO 9001:2000 certified.

Release: 07-59

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