NTSB Alaska Forum Spotlights Training, Infrastructure

Citing concerns that more than 200 Part 135 crashes in Alaska have collectively resulted in some 80 fatalities since 2008, NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt is stressing a need to improve training, risk management, use of technology, and aviation infrastructure in the state to improve overall safety.

Sumwalt last month moderated a daylong session with more than two dozen industry, NTSB, and FAA officials to delve into those topics and develop solutions to reverse the Part 135 accident trends in the state. Pointing to statics that more than 80 percent of Alaska is not accessible by roads, Sumwalt said, “Not only is aviation essential to Alaska but so is Part 135. It’s essential to Alaska...We’re concerned about Part 135 safety in Alaska.”

He acknowledged that Alaska faces unique challenges with rugged terrain and often-changing weather patterns, but added, “We cannot accept those factors as an excuse. Yes, Alaska is different in many aspects. But it is no different in terms of the consequences of a tragic plane crash.”

Collaborative and Non-Punitive Action

Dana Schulze, director of aviation safety for the NTSB, added the Safety Board wants to spur collaborative discussions that dig into root causes and develop solutions that can be adopted by all operations. “Everybody has limited resources, and we recognize in the 135 community that all of the solutions need to be scalable for size and complexity of operations,” she said. “The message is there are a lot of things that can be done even with a small operation. Everyone can focus on safety as a priority.” Also important, she added, is that the approach remain non-punitive to encourage people to come forward.

Statistics have shown controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), loss of control in flight, midair collision, and unintended encounter with IMC account for the majority of Part 135 fatal accidents in Alaska, she said. A deeper look into those causes reveal that CFIT training is inadequate and needs to be improved, Schulze noted. Also, she pointed to a need for operational monitoring through programs such as flight-data monitoring, as well as the implementation of safety management systems (SMS). These “will really help move the needle on safety,” she said.

As far as training, it is particularly a challenge as multiple operators participating in last month’s forum confirmed that turnover among Part 135 pilots in Alaska averages about 40 percent annually. As pilots turn over, new pilots need scenario-based training to better familiarize themselves with their specific operations, experts agreed.

“We’ve found that CFIT training is conducted, but it is really not yielding the effectiveness that we would hope,” Schulze said and cited a need to better highlight operational procedures, terrain awareness warning technologies, and weather risk management in that training.

This training does not need to occur in the most advanced simulator. Raymond Weber, associate professor in the Aviation Technology Division at the University of Alaska, Associate Professor, said his research has found that the fidelity of the simulator wasn’t as critical to decision-making training as the ability to train in the simulators in the first place—and have the ability to take scenarios to the conclusion. Research showed that students who flew into poor weather, got lost, and experienced CFIT in a simulator were far more cautious in subsequent exercises, Weber said.

Along with CFIT, midair collisions have been problematic in Alaska, said Richard McSpadden, executive director of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute, citing research showing those incidents involving general aviation have been as much as 25 percent to 30 percent higher in Alaska. He pointed to a number of factors playing into this, such as lack of supporting infrastructure, weather, and training. There is not a single “silver bullet” answer, but McSpadden highlighted knowledge, training, proficiency, and reliable equipment as among components to help improve overall safety.

Risk-management Efforts

As for risk management, Max Tidwell, v-p of safety and security for Alaska Airlines, outlined the benefits his airline has experienced from flight-data monitoring, seeing improvements in areas such as pilot deviations and approach procedures.

A flight-data monitoring program just needs to be something that operators can use to keep their finger on what’s going on, including smaller operators, said Sumwalt, emphasizing the need to gather data that can highlight trends.

He also stressed the underlying business case for SMS, which he defined as a “business approach to safety…it gives us a structure to manage safety.”

Air Methods has a robust SMS given the inherent risks with air ambulance operations, said Stacia Joyce, a senior pilot with Air Methods. “We do risk analysis for every flight we do. Asking those questions on every flight can be effective.” But she added, “I don’t think a lot of people know how to do it” and suggested that the FAA and NTSB provide information to help operators implement such systems.

On the equipment front, the benefits of ADS-B were highlighted, particularly with situational awareness. ADS-In-equipped aircraft get detailed weather products, also enabling pilots to get information to avoid CFIT with the terrain database and loss of control that could happen in poor weather.

“This is good for everybody. People are realizing the benefits,” added Jens Hennig, v-p of operations for the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. But the rate of equipage is lower, given that there is little ADS-B airspace in Alaska, Hennig said.

Cost may be deterring equipage, given the lack of ADS-B coverage, said Darren Young, director of operations for Warbelow’s/Air Artic. But his operation equipped its aircraft with ADS-B In and Out, primarily for traffic avoidance. “That’s great for us but if we don’t get others [equipped] then we won’t be able to see them,” he said. Even so, he added, “I could not live without it anymore.”

However, Young also pushed for more ground stations for pilots who operate below 10,000 feet.

Further, a number of operators expressed concerns about regulations and lack of infrastructure, such as weather reporting that is keeping operations VFR. “We’ve been told that we need to do more IFR. We do want to do more IFR. We prefer IFR. If there are IFR capabilities out there we want to utilize them,” Young said. “But without that infrastructure, we can’t.” In the mountain regions, he said the few approaches available often are unusable.