Unified Framework for

PSSA and SAA with

Relevant Safety
Requirements
Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni
Aerospace Consultant
315 307-8194
abassyouni@aol.com
Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni
Aerospace Consultant

PSSA Structure and Function

The PASA/PSSA/SSA are iterative processes associated
with the design definition. The PASA/PSSA is conducted
at multiple stages of system development including
aircraft, system, and item design definitions.

At the lowest level, the PSSA determines the safety

related design requirements of hardware and software.

Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni

Aerospace Consultant

PSSA Structure and Function

Preliminary System Safety Assessment (PSSA) is used to
evaluate planned architecture against the SFHA
requirements and allocate these and new derived safety
requirements to equipment and ITEMS (software, AEH,
hardware)
The difference between the PSSA and the SSA is that the
PSSA is a method to evaluate proposed architectures and
derive system safety requirements for each; whereas the
SSA is a verification that the implemented design meets
both the qualitative and quantitative safety requirements
defined in the AFHA, SFHA and PSSA.
Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni
Aerospace Consultant

PSSA Structure and Function

PSSA Structure and contents should follow the Templates
of the Japanese JCAP and the Federal FAA Organizations of
Aircraft certifications.
The basic structure of the PSSA shall include the following contents:
1. Introduction
2. System description
3. System Boundary and Operations
4. Hazard Assessment
5. Safety Objectives
6. Safety Assessment
7. Derived Safety Requirements
Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni
Aerospace Consultant

Input & Output of PSSA

Support Certificate

FHA Func. Haz. Ana

Safety Obje for FMEA

FTA Fault Tree Ana

Define Mitg & Val

Failure Conditions
Failure Rates/detect

Prob. of Root Causes

PSSA

Faults impact Safety

FDAL & IDAL HW,SW
DSR Derived Safety Req

Severity Levels

Define Severity Levels

Safety Master Plan

Define Mitig Method

Define Val method

CCM Com Cause Ana

PSSA has to provide the DSR and techniques to Eliminate Hazard

Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni
Aerospace Consultant

Safety Validation and verification Tasks

1.Updating the PSSA/SSA Contents
2.Updating the PASA/ASA Contents
1. Identify the hazards and failure conditions for Aircraft
Systems components
2. Assess the Severity and Establish Safety Objectives system
components
3. Overview the System Reliability Analysis
4. Develop FMEA, and FMES
5. Develop Mitigation Strategies to reduce risk
6. Determine Effectiveness of Mitigation Strategies
[Acceptable Risk]
7. Develop DSR for LG components
8. Verify Implementation of Mitigation Strategies
Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni
Aerospace Consultant

Updating PSSA/SSA

Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni

Aerospace Consultant

Safety Plan for Developing PSSA and SSA

OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN

Verify & Update

SHFA , FC tables
Update Equipment
Tech. Specs. FC
Tables

DSR

PSSA

Verify & Update

FTA diagrams

FMEA

FEB

CCA (CMA, PRA,ZSA)

SSA

MAR
ATA-32 Landing Gear System

Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni

Aerospace Consultant

Updating PSSA/SSA, PASA/ASA

In addition to PSSA/SSA it is recommended
to perform a PASA/ASA
PASA: Preliminary Aircraft Safety Assessment
ASA: Aircraft Safety Assessment
The PASA/ASA assesses the A/C level FC coming from aircraft level
FHA that combine failures of several systems that are not studied
or cannot be studied at system level.
It allows identification of the Development Assurance Levels
(DAL) for aircraft functions.

Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni

Aerospace Consultant

Updating PSSA/SSA, PASA/ASA

Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni

Aerospace Consultant

10

System Safety Assessment (SSA)

The SSA shall include quantitative analysis of critical failure
conditions.
Failure rates from FMEA documents and risk times shall be
placed into FTAs to calculate the probability of failure
conditions.
The mitigated RPNs shall be considered for Risk Assessment

Dr. Ahmed Bassyouni

Aerospace Consultant

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