I know many of us, in our initial training, were introduced to the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), but in the intervening two to twenty years, some of us may have forgotten exactly how powerful a resource the Aviation Safety program is.

The purpose behind the NASA program is to gain information on aviation incidents (actual and near misses) to develop data to aid the FAA in improving the safety of the national aviation system. The program is anonymous and voluntary. Incidents reportable to on the NASA form include everything from busted airspace assignments, to unintentional regulation violations to near-miss mid-air collisions. As an incentive for pilots to provide personally detrimental information to improve aviation safety, ASRS offers a get out of jail free card. If the FAA decides to impose sanctions against you for an incident or accident, without criminal intent, and you filed a NASA form you will avoid any penalty from regulation enforcement.

The steps to filling out the NASA form and using the ASRS system are simple and easy to follow:

1) Print out the NASA form here and place in your flight bag.
2) Go flying
3) Should something bad happen, pull out the NASA form, or pull up the electronic form here
4) Fill out the form
5) Submit to the attached address within 10 days of the incident
6) You will receive the top portion of the from back, with is your get out of jail free card should the FAA decide to pursue any action against you

There is not limit to the number of NASA forms you can submit, but you can only use the NASA form as a get out of jail free card, once, every 5 years.