Want to help improve NASA reports?

NASA is asking for comments from the public as it renews its duties as the collector of information for the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS).

According to a May 2025 post to the Federal Register, NASA officials note that the agency’s Ames Research Center, Human Systems Integration Division, manages voluntary safety reporting systems, such as ASRS reports, to collect and share safety information from pilots, air traffic controllers, and others involved in aviation.

Often referred to as NASA Reports or a “get out of jail free card” for pilots, ASRS reports are filed voluntarily by pilots for a variety of reasons, from mistakenly entering Class B airspace to cutting someone off in the pattern to a near miss with a drone.

The collected safety data is used by NASA and the FAA, as well as other organizations involved in aviation safety research, to:

• Identify deficiencies and discrepancies so that these can be remedied by appropriate authorities
• Support policy formulation and planning for improvements
• Strengthen the foundation of human factors safety research

NASA officials note the system receives more than 100,000 reports to the ASRS system each year, with employees spending about 30 minutes on each report. That means the “Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours” is 50,000 hours, according to officials.

NASA is seeing comments on:

• Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of NASA, including whether the information collected has practical utility
• The accuracy of NASA’s estimate of the burden (including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information
• Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected
• Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including automated collection techniques or the use of other forms of information technology.

Comments are due by July 7, 2025. You can submit them at the Federal Register at Regulations.gov and searching for NASA Docket NASA-2025-0004.