Facility Guidance on the use of the Air Traffic Quality Assurance (ATQA) Application

• The Information Technology Directorate (ATO-A) designed and developed ATQA to fulfill a need identified by air traffic field facilities for a more efficient means for reporting and submitting aviation incident reports. The policy and distribution guidance for completion of incident reports has not changed.

• ATQA is a web-based replacement for CruQuality and Final 20. The mission of this web-based tool is to provide air traffic facilities, regional service areas, and headquarters the ability to enter, modify, and retrieve incident reports involving operational errors/deviations, near-midair collisions, pilot deviations, vehicle/pedestrian deviations, and flight assists via electronic submission. Features of this application include drop down boxes, look-up tables, and pre-filled data blocks to assist the user and provide internal data quality. This tool offers a standardized approach to incident reporting. Data from this application will be used to feed air traffic analysis tools. The site is located on the intranet at atqa.faa.gov.

• As of May 1, the beta test ended and the production version was made available for use. All facilities within the Eastern Service Area are now expected to utilize ATQA to enter preliminary incident reports and final operational error/deviation reports. Rollout to the Central Service Area will follow in the June-July timeframe and rollout to the Western Service Area will follow in the July-August timeframe. However, any facility can start using the site at any time. ATO-R

has directed that national implementation of ATQA be accomplished by October 1, 2004.

• On September 17, 2003, national NATCA representatives received an Article 7 briefing on the use of the ATQA application. No local notices are required. However, facility managers are asked to create an ATQA transition plan for their facilities that includes discussions with facreps. These discussions should include identifying users, identifying who should be trained, the scheduling of training and its impact, and the impact on staff.

• Training consists of a 20-minute narrated Powerpoint tutorial available on the site. The training guides the user through every facet of using the application. A self-certification page is included at the end of the training for users to complete, print, and file in their training folders. A training/demo site is provided on the site as well. This allows users to practice entering “dummy” reports into the system rather that the production database.

• All users of the system must obtain a user ID and password to access the site and should complete the following process:

1. Log on to atqa.faa.gov

2. Click on Request Account

3. Complete the registration form and click on submit

4. Look for your registration information via your lotus notes account

5. Follow the instructions on the message to change your password

• For CIC’s who require access to the system and do not have lotus notes accounts, the following process should be completed:

1. Facility manager identifies CIC’s who need ATQA access and sends names to

ATQA help desk at 9-AWA-ATQA-Helpdesk@faa.gov.

2. ATQA help desk will respond with user ID’s and passwords

3. User can go login to ATQA and change their passwords

• The incident reporting process is as follows:

1. Access atqa.faa.gov

2. Select type of report you want to create

3. Complete the report

4. Print and distribute the report according to current orders

• ATQA Highlights

· ATQA is a user-friendly application that reduces workload at the data entry level and improves data quality.

· ATQA allows the user to create new reports, search and modify existing reports, and generate printable copies of incident reports for mailing, faxing, or emailing to the appropriate points of contact.

· The application features built-in “smart technology” which includes pre-filled information and drop down menus.

· Facilities will have direct access to their operational data via a built-in query tool.

· ATQA is a browser-based application requiring no local installation and maintenance.

· Multiple users can view incident reports simultaneously.

· ATQA allows electronic incident reports to be attached as an email.

Technical and data help support are available via telephone and email.

• Technical and data support is available on the site under the help section of the application. A FAQ section has also been created for user support.