NASA’s Human Factors Initiatives: A Boon to Aviation Safety

No aspect of NASA’s human factors research has been of greater impor­tance than that which has dealt with improving the safety of those humans who occupy all different types of aircraft—both as operators and as passengers. NASA human factors scientists have over the past several decades joined forces with the FAA, DOD, and nearly all mem­bers of the aviation industry to make flying safer for all parties. To under­stand the scope of the work that has helped accomplish this goal, one should review some of the major safety-oriented human factors pro­grams in which NASA has participated.