FAA Severe Turbulence Research and Development Act of 2023

FAA Severe Turbulence Research and Development Act of 2023

This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry out applied research and development on severe air turbulence.

Specifically, the FAA, in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and in consultation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, must carry out applied research and development to

• enhance the monitoring and understanding of severe turbulence, including clear air turbulence (i.e., sudden severe turbulence occurring in cloudless regions that causes violent buffeting of aircraft); and
• inform the development of measures to mitigate safety impacts on crew and the flying public that may result from severe turbulence.

The FAA may enter into agreements with commercial providers to purchase turbulence data and place instruments on aircraft in order to understand and monitor turbulence. Data collected pursuant to this bill must be widely available and accessible to scientific research, user, and stakeholder communities.

Further, the FAA, in collaboration with NOAA, must submit a report to Congress on the research. The report must identify future research and development needed to predict and mitigate the safety impacts that may result from severe turbulence, including clear air turbulence.