Military Flight Operations Quality Assurance

Military Flight Operations Quality Assurance (MFOQA) is a proactive safety program that analyzes routine flight data to detect, measure, and mitigate hazards. MFOQA quantifies safety, training, maintenance, and operational trend information to improve efficiency and mission performance and increase combat readiness. It is a nonpunitive, identity-protected program designed to eliminate hazards, not punish pilots or crews.

MFOQA reduces aviation mishaps by identifying operational and maintenance trend anomalies from baseline operations, providing commanders with critical awareness of hazard trends and actionable information for risk mitigation.

MFOQA collects data from routine, successful missions to establish baselines of normal operations. The data tell “how” the crews are flying, what techniques they’re using, and how the aircraft is performing. After a baseline is established, trends that stray away from the norm can be detected.

Currently, fourteen aircraft fleets participate in the MFOQA program. An astonishing 3.7 terabytes of data from more than twenty-two hundred aircraft and more than thirty-seven thousand flights are collected and analyzed by the MFOQA team each month. MFOQA fleets include the T-6, C-5M, C-17, C-32, C-37, C-40, C/WC/EC/MC/HC/AC-130J, KC/RC/TC/WC-135, KC-46 and boom, HH-60G/W, MQ-9, F-15 C/D/E, F-16 Block 50/52, and B-1B.

Data from participating aircraft are collected and then analyzed by MFOQA to identify deviations from standard operating procedures, performance parameters, and established safety limits. Deviations, even minor ones, can be precursors to more serious incidents or accidents. Analyzing the data allow trends and patterns to emerge, highlighting potential safety risks that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Once risks are identified, the data enable the development of targeted interventions and mitigation strategies. This process could involve revising procedures, improving training, or implementing technological upgrades to address the root causes of the identified risks.

By proactively identifying and addressing risks, MFOQA helps reduce accidents, incidents, and near misses. It transforms reactive safety practices into a proactive approach.

“In its twenty-year history, MFOQA has racked up numerous saves that have prevented loss of life and combat equipment,” said Margaret “Maggie” Moore, MFOQA manager. “MFOQA is a force enabler because it allows crews to identify, assess, and mitigate previously unknown risk to meet mission objectives. This feedback is based on actual flight data, rather than subjective observations, making it credible and effective.”

In the Air Force Safety Center’s Air Force Safety Automated System, commanders, aircrew, and safety personnel can see tailored courses of action and mitigation strategies for addressing concerns in specific communities. Additionally, twelve months of data detailing trends, hazards, and risks by fleet are available. This information ranges from preflight information to fleet-wide hazards decision-makers can use to ensure effective training and mission operations.

Although it is not mandatory, many reasons exist for System Program Offices to participate in the MFOQA program.

“MFOQA acts to identify hazards for leadership who can weigh the benefits of accepting that risk, or modifying training, procedures, or operations to mitigate the risk,” said Moore. “System program offices [SPOs] can’t fix what they’re not aware of, and SPOs have reaped valuable data from the MFOQA program that revealed previously unknown critical hazards. In today’s increasingly dangerous world, we ignore data at our own peril.”

Don’t see your fleet in the MFOQA program? Operators should participate in System Safety Groups and tell leadership they see the value of proactive data-centric safety for mission success.

For more information on the MFOQA program, visit https://www.safety.af.mil/Divisions/Aviation-Safety-Division/MFOQA/