TAS:80 0125:TAS RECOVERY ACT FUNDS CLIN 1 THIS RESEARCH EFFORT FOCUSES ON SAFETY AND LOSS AS A CONTROL PROBLEM RATHER THAN A FAILURE PROBLEM. THE SCOPE OF THIS EFFORT IS TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF APPLYING SYSTEMS THEORY CONCEPTS IN ASSURING SAFETY IN NEXTGEN AND FLIGHT CRITICAL SYSTEMS. TO DETERMINE FEASIBILITY, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DOCUMENT THE SAFETY ASSURANCE TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS CURRENTLY USED FOR CIVIL AVIATION, CONDUCT A CASE STUDY OF APPLYING THE STPA METHOD TO ANALYZE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS AND CONSTRAINTS FOR A SELECTED NEXTGEN APPLICATION, AND EVALUATE THE RESULTS OF THIS CASE STUDY. USING THE RESULTS OF THE CASE STUDY, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL COMPARE THE RESULTS OF THE STPA APPROACH TO THE RESULTS FROM THE STANDARD APPROACHES, AND ASSESS THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE STPA METHOD AND SUPPORTING TOOLS. IN THE OPTION PERIOD, THE CONTRACTOR SHALL ENHANCE THE STPA METHOD AND TOOLS TO OVERCOME THE WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED IN THE CASE STUDY, AND EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND COMMERCIAL VIABILITY OF THESE ENHANCEMENTS USING A SECOND CASE STUDY.