National Academies Calls For Crew Radiation Tracking

A new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report says the FAA should move its established guidance on in-flight radiation exposure into a formal monitoring and management program for Part 121 airline crewmembers. The report, ordered under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, says current science, dose models and operational tools provide a sufficient basis for the agency to begin tracking cumulative exposure while additional research continues.

“Radiation exposure is an unavoidable part of a flight crewmember’s job, and we need to do more to ensure that flight crew health and safety are sufficiently prioritized,” Jonathan Samet, chair of the committee that wrote the report, said. “We hope our report will be a guide to revising approaches to the problem, strengthen oversight, and empower crewmembers with the information they need to make decisions about their health.”

Existing FAA Guidance

The FAA has recognized in-flight radiation exposure for decades and last updated its advisory circular on the subject in 2014. That circular outlines galactic and solar cosmic radiation, recommends exposure limits, gives separate guidance for pregnant crewmembers and directs crews and operators to CARI dose-estimation tools.

The National Academies report says those pieces have developed unevenly across U.S. airline operations, leaving crewmembers without a uniform way to track accumulated dose over a career.

Recommended Changes

The report recommends that the FAA use its existing authority to oversee ionizing radiation exposure, improve access to its CARI models through a user-friendly web application and require U.S. commercial airlines to establish radiation safety programs. Those programs would include dose monitoring, training, risk communication and scheduling accommodations for crewmembers seeking lower-dose routes.

The report also calls for a centralized dose-tracking system and continued FAA work with NOAA and NASA to improve measurement of radiation exposure during solar particle events.

The National Academies report recommends a phased approach, beginning with FAA oversight and improved access to dose tools, followed by airline safety programs and a national exposure-tracking system.