Air transportation, one of the most important modes of transportation, is also one of the safest. Nevertheless, the public demands that safety levels continuously improve and that the absolute number of aviation accidents continue to decline, even as air-traffic levels increase. On February 12, 1997, after the tragedy of TWA 800, President William J. Clinton declared, “We will achieve a national goal of reducing the fatal aircraft accident rate by 80% within 10 years.”

In response to this presidential declaration, the administrator of NASA announced that NASA would undertake a new program in aviation safety in support of this objective. NASA quickly formed the Aviation Safety Investment Strategy Team (ASIST) in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which organized a series of five workshops to examine the options and recommend an approach for NASA to develop the enabling technologies that address the president's goal. The exceptional and dedicated participation from all sectors of the aviation industry in the development of NASA’s strategy was remarkable.