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Aviation Cybersecurity: Enhanced Air Safety Requires FAA to Better Mitigate Threats to Aircraft Communications
GAO-26-108439
Sep 21, 2026
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9 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should develop a formal risk assessment report that addresses, analyzes, and documents specific risks to the seven of eight identified NAS systems arising from but not limited to threats such as spectrum attacks, spoofing, and jamming. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should conduct a review of system categorization for the one system we reviewed to ensure all system documents are consistent and align with the appropriate system impact level. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should implement capabilities to continuously monitor threats such as interference, spoofing, and jamming to aviation communications links within the National Airspace System. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should, in coordination with partner agencies, develop methods to monitor and assess progress toward short- and long-term outcomes in interagency groups to ensure accountability. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should, in conjunction with partner agencies, develop formal guidance on information sharing outside of interagency groups. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should, in conjunction with interagency partners, describe how leadership roles in interagency groups will be sustained over the long-term, including in the event of resignation, reassignment, or retirement of the individual serving in that leadership role. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Air Traffic Control Systems: Ambitious New Modernization Effort Needs to Improve Cost and Schedule Planning
GAO-26-107992
Sep 14, 2026
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should prioritize developing a lifecycle cost estimate in accordance with GAO's cost estimating best practices for the BNATCS initiative. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Aviation Administration The Administrator of FAA should prioritize developing a detailed integrated master schedule in accordance with GAO's scheduling best practices for BNATCS phase 1. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Flight Simulators: FAA Should Take Steps to Ensure Oversight Efforts Address Increased Workload
GAO-26-107726
Sep 03, 2026
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Aviation Administration The FAA Administrator should ensure that NSP develops and implements a mechanism to communicate with and receive feedback from sponsors about its process for determining which simulators are eligible for inclusion in its EEI program. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Aviation Administration The FAA Administrator should ensure that NSP develops and implements a process to address all identified skills gaps that pose a risk to NSP's ability to meet its mission. (Recommendation 2).
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety: DOT Should Take Steps to Address Risks Related to Limited Driver Visibility
GAO-26-107954
Jul 21, 2026
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should determine the appropriate method or methods for measuring driver visibility of pedestrians and cyclists, including the size of blind zones, for passenger vehicles and commercial trucks. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In its written response to our report, DOT concurred with this recommendation and stated that it has ongoing research into methods for measuring visibility. As we note in our report, this ongoing research is a step in the right direction but does not include medium or heavy-duty commercial trucks, only light vehicles. Our report also notes that DOT's Volpe Center has evaluated methods for assessing blind zones that could be generalized to assess all passenger and commercial vehicles. By fully implementing our recommendation, DOT will have a method to consistently measure the size of blind zones in vehicles to examine any relationships between driver visibility and risks to pedestrians and cyclists. We believe that DOT should fully implement this recommendation.
Department of Transportation The Secretary of Transportation should take steps to fully analyze and address risks that limited driver visibility poses to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. Such steps include analyzing the factors related to driver visibility that may pose risks to pedestrians and cyclists, such as type of vehicle, different driving scenarios, and turning maneuvers, and determining actions to reduce risks. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In its written response to our report, DOT stated that it did not concur with this recommendation. We believe that DOT should fully implement it, for several reasons described in detail in our report. For example, DOT's written response stated that the recommendation assumes that the necessary datasets already exist to isolate the effects of visibility. The recommendation does not make this assumption. Rather, our report notes that DOT has conducted some research and collected data on the relationship between driver visibility and risks to pedestrians and cyclists that could be useful in assessing risks. We describe these datasets in our report and state that they provide a useful starting point for analysis. Moreover, the availability and quality of data are factors that agencies should consider when identifying, analyzing, and responding to risk. As such, one of DOT's steps in analyzing risks could be to review and identify any gaps in available data, and determine the appropriate actions to address them. As stated in our report, NHTSA's mission is to save lives and prevent injuries, among other things, due to crashes on the nation's roadways. NHTSA has multiple avenues to carry out its mission, and multiple datasets and other resources that it could use to fully analyze and address risks posed by limited driver visibility. We continue to believe that given its mission and subject matter expertise in this area, DOT is well positioned to determine policy changes to address risks, and that DOT should fully implement the recommendation.
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