Move Follows Accidents Involving Airplanes With Such Equipment

The NTSB has issued recommendations to the FAA saying the agency should collect data about whether aircraft carry such safety equipment as ballistic parachutes and ejection seats. There is a concern that First Responders to accidents may be put in danger by the explosive charges used to deploy such devices.

The NTSB says the FAA should require aircraft owners, during each triennial re- registration with the FAA's aircraft registry, to identify the presence and type of safety devices (such as ejection seats, ballistic recovery systems, or inflatable restraints) that contain explosive components on the aircraft. They say the owner should also make the information about the presence and type of safety devices that contain explosive components on aircraft that was collected readily available to first responders and accident investigators by displaying it on the FAA's online aircraft registry, and require aircraft owners who have installed a safety device that contains an explosive component under a supplemental type certificate since the most recent triennial re- registration to submit a new FAA Form 8050-1A, providing updated information regarding the newly installed device.

The board also recommends that the FAA issue and distribute a publicly available safety bulletin to all 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 139-certificated airports and to representative organizations of off-airport first responders, such as the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the National Fire Protection Association, to (1) inform first responders of the risks posed by the potential presence of all safety devices that contain explosive components (including ejection seats) on an aircraft during accident investigation and recovery and (2) offer instructions about how to quickly obtain information from the FAA's online aircraft registry regarding the presence of these safety devices that contain explosive components on an aircraft.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov