NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – Feedback from 2010’s limited deployment of the Military Flight Operations Quality Assurance (MFOQA) program MFOQA Engineering Tool (MET) has been very positive.

“The MET was deployed to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif., in early 2010,” said Susan Whitley, MFOQA team leader in the Air Combat Electronics program office, PMA-209. “Squadron F/A-18 Hornet aircrews and maintainers were not only able to provide a ’fleet perspective’ to the development team concerning MFOQA system performance and capabilities, but their ’operational test‘ background and experience added to their informal inputs to the team.”

The MET was also deployed to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 (VAQ-129), the EA-18G Fleet Replacement Squadron at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., where Growler aircrews are being trained prior to assignment to their fleet squadrons. “VAQ-129 provides another opportunity for unique training feedback on the MFOQA system,” added Whitley.

“The MET has really expanded our capability for debriefing our aircrews,” said Cmdr. Tim Murphy, commanding officer of VAQ-129. “Our aircrews found it instrumental as a real-time, coordinated debriefing tool for our training sorties. It has proven so useful that we are using it on every training event and we have even had to turn back aircrews specifically asking to use it.”

The MFOQA MET is a risk mitigation tool that allows the development team to assess MFOQA system design concepts and functionalities with fleet users in operational environments prior to committing them to the MFOQA program of record, which is expected to field to the fleet in Fiscal Year 2012.

MFOQA is a new knowledge management system that will collect, process, analyze and store aircraft data and other related data, after every flight. When fully fielded, the MFOQA system will provide fleet users with a new and unique capability to assess aircraft and aircrew performance, from the level of individual flights and aircrew, all the way up through analysis of data across platforms, communities, and enterprise-wide areas of interest.

MFOQA is expected to be a big step forward in further reducing Naval Aviation’s mishap rate added Whitley. For more information about MFOQA, check out NAVAIR’s PMA209 public website under the Safety and Flight Ops tab - http://www.navair.navy.mil/pma209/.