KTN-Area Special Federal Aviation Regulations Proposed

The National Transportation Safety Board has called upon the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue special regulations addressing flight safety hazards specific to air-tour operations in Ketchikan, Alaska.

In a report issued Tuesday, 29 November 2022, the NTSB cited seven air-tour aircraft accidents in the vicinity of Ketchikan in which 31-people perished and another 13 were seriously injured. The report underscored the need for increased regulatory oversight of Ketchikan area air-tour operators and examination of their respective operational ethe and praxes.

The NTSB has prevailed upon the FAA to issue Ketchikan-specific, special federal aviation regulations requiring more conservative VFR flight visibility minima and enhanced weather training for air-tour pilots.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy remarked: “There have been too many air-tour tragedies in Ketchikan, a place with unique, but well understood, safety hazards that endanger the lives of pilots and passengers alike. Unless the FAA acts swiftly, experience tells us to expect even more heartbreak and preventable loss of life.”

The NTSB’s recommendations derive of the board’s review of a series of fatal air tour accidents that occurred in Ketchikan over the 14-year-period between 2007 and 2021. In examining subject accidents, the NTSB reevaluated the effectiveness of 13-safety recommendations it issued to the FAA for purpose of improving air-tour safety in the Ketchikan area.

The NTSB found that the FAA’s responses to many of its recommendations had been predicated upon voluntary operator actions either no longer in practice or proven ineffective at mitigating the “overlapping hazards” presented by southeastern Alaska’s challenging meteorological conditions and mountainous terrain—the underlying causes of numerous Ketchikan air-tour mishaps.

The report noted that the issuance of special federal aviation regulations specific to the Grand Canyon and Hawaii—locales replete with distinct operational hazards—have effectively decreased air-tour accidents and fatalities. The regulations in question include the establishment of  minimum altitudes, enhanced aircraft and survival equipment requirements, and airspace limitations within certain geographical areas.

“Special federal aviation regulations have effectively reduced air-tour accidents in other areas, saving untold lives,” Homendy asserted. “We need the same safety leadership now—before there’s yet another tragedy in Ketchikan.”

FMI: www.ntsb.gov