Explain and contrast the duties and responsibilities between ICAO, FAA and the NTSB. List
some specific examples.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a specialized agency of the United
Nations and serves as the global forum for international civil aviation (Cusick, Cortes, &
Rodrigues, 2017). The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a U.S. government agency with
primary responsibility for the safety of civil aviation (Cusick, et al., 2017). The National
Transport Safety Board (NTSB) states its mission is to promote transportation safety (Cusick, et
al., 2017).
Simply put, the ICAO governs international aviation, recommends rulemaking for international
aviation, and ensures procedure standardization in international aviation. The FAA is in charge of
aviation, rulemaking, certification, safety standardization, security, and inspections of air carriers
in the United States. The NTSB is a government safety body who investigates accidents or
incidents and makes recommendation based on findings. They also maintain the national
database on aviation accidents and incidents as well as safety studies. The NTSB is a non-
governing body; which means they cannot enforce rulemaking, only recommend actions based
on findings.
Cusick, S. K., Cortes, A. I., & Rodrigues, C. C. (2017).
Commercial Aviation Safety.
(6
th
ed.)
New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill Education.
Explain, define and contrast the SHELL and 5M human factor models and their application in
aviation safety.
SHELL stands for Software, Hardware, Environment, and Liveware. In the model, Liveware (or
human) is always in the center of the model and all other components are interacted with by the
Liveware. The model represents constant interaction with the human component based on the
