WASHINGTON — Abandoning secrecy claims, NASA promised Congress on Wednesday it will reveal results of a federal aviation survey that found that aircraft near collisions, runway interference and other safety problems occur far more often than previously recognized.
NASA had said previously it was withholding the information because it feared it would upset air travelers and hurt airline profits. NASA cited those reasons in refusing to turn over the survey data to The Associated Press, which sought the information over 14 months.
NASA administrator Michael Griffin confirmed NASA’s research showed many types of safety incidents occurring more frequently than were reported by other U.S. monitoring programs. But he cautioned that the data was never validated and warned, “There may be reason to question the validity of the methodology.”
Experts who worked on the study say it adhered to the highest survey standards. The research was “state of the art,” said Jon Krosnick, a Stanford University professor who helped create the survey. Disputing Griffin, Krosnick said aviation experts have reviewed the research plans.
The questionnaire asked pilots to state how many times in the previous 60 days they had encountered a wide range of problems with equipment, weather, tower communication and other safety issues.
NASA’s efforts to withhold the safety research earlier sparked tough talk on Capitol Hill and in the editorial pages of dozens of leading newspapers, which urged the agency to release its research. The New York Times described NASA’s reasons for withholding the information as “lame excuses.”
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