Transforming Aviation Safety Through Writing

When Kayla Taylor (’21, ’23, ’28) began her journey at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2017, she had her eyes set on the stars. After earning her B.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics in 2021, she continued her academic path with a master’s degree in Aviation, specializing in Space Studies, in May 2023. She began her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in August 2024. Ultimately, she discovered her true impact lay not just in science, but in how we communicate it — especially when safety is at stake.

As part of her master’s thesis on incident report writing, Kayla addressed a challenge that often goes unnoticed in aviation: the writing gap. Her research focuses on how unclear incident reports can affect aviation safety — and why teaching students to write them effectively is just as important as flight training itself. 

Writing Matters

The inspiration for Kayla’s research began when she learned about Embry-Riddle’s current Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), which focuses on helping students develop transferable writing skills.

Through this initiative, she identified an opportunity to support the Flight Department by improving the clarity and effectiveness of student-written incident reports, which often required follow-ups for full understanding. Dr. Kenneth Byrnes, chair of the Flight Department, and Bob Joyce, director of flight safety, played key roles in bringing this gap to her attention.

Kayla said, “Although pilots are trained extensively in spoken communication, writing — especially the kind that conveys urgent safety information — is often an afterthought in aviation training.” Her focus: how discipline-specific guidance, or lack thereof, affects students' ability to write effective incident reports.

The Experiment

To explore the issue, Kayla conducted an experiment. Three groups of student pilots watched the same video of an in-flight incident and were asked to write an incident report as if they were pilots. One group received no guidance, another received bullet-point instructions, and a third was shown examples of strong and weak reports.

Despite the varying levels of support, Kayla’s results showed no statistically significant differences between the groups’ performances.

This finding revealed something deeper: Kayla said, “Students didn’t just need instructions. They needed dialogue. We expect students to write these reports on their own, but we’re not showing them why one report works and another doesn’t.”

The reports were scored by subject matter experts using a validated rubric. Even after calibration sessions to standardize the grading, Kayla found the tools might not have been sensitive enough to capture subtle variations in writing quality.

Bridging the Gap

Kayla emphasized the difference between incident and accident reports. “Incident reports are critical for understanding and help us prevent accidents,” she explained. An incident may not result in harm, but reporting it correctly can prevent future disasters.

Yet, she discovered that many student pilots had never been taught how to write these reports — there was an assumption they’d simply know how. Kayla drew on resources like NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), where pilots voluntarily submit incident reports, and credited leaders like Byrnes and Joyce for helping her refine her research focus.

From Campus Research to National Impact

On July 16, 2025, Kayla presented part of her thesis on incident report writing at the International Writing Across the Curriculum (IWAC) conference.

Her poster, a one-page visual summary of her research, was shared with other academics at the conference. She wrote a manuscript to be submitted for IWAC’s peer-reviewed conference proceedings, which is a key step toward publication.

Peer review,” she said, “isn’t just about credibility. It’s about making the work stronger. You get suggestions to improve the paper, then it’s published for others to learn from.”

Looking ahead, Kayla sees enormous potential in artificial intelligence. She envisions AI tools that use natural language processing to evaluate reports, offer feedback and even simulate the perspective of a reviewer.

“Pretend you’re the reviewer for this incident report,” she said. “What would you need to see? What would make you ask questions?”

Charting Safer Skies Through Writing

Kayla also attended a workshop on writing for quantum science while at IWAC, underscoring her belief that communication is as important as technical knowledge across all fields.

“Writing is important as a pilot,” she said. “Those humanities classes aren’t just general education. You use those skills to enhance your understanding of safety operations.”

As she continues her Ph.D. journey, Kayla is committed to helping foster a culture where clear, thoughtful writing becomes an integral part of flight safety.

“Keeping aviation safe,” she said, “starts with knowing how to tell the story of what almost went wrong — so we can all fly smarter, safer and more informed.”

With every report, conversation and conference presentation, Kayla is helping shape a new standard — one where communication isn’t just a tool for learning, but a key to saving lives.