{"id":8610,"date":"2023-09-19T09:48:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T09:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=8610"},"modified":"2023-09-19T09:48:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T09:48:01","slug":"aviation-experts-say-infrastructure-gaps-contribute-to-alaskas-air-fatality-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=8610","title":{"rendered":"Aviation experts say infrastructure gaps contribute to Alaska\u2019s air fatality rate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Aviation news international\u00a0 &#8211; For Alaskans who track political history, the airplane accident that killed Eugene \u201cBuzzy\u201d Peltola, husband of Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola, triggers grim memories.<\/p>\n<p>There was the 2010 crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens in Southwest Alaska. The 1978 crash in Anchorage that killed Stevens\u2019s first wife, Ann, and four others, including the husband of a state legislator. The disappearance in 1972, a plane carrying Alaska\u2019s then-congressman, Nick Begich, and House Majority Leader Hale Boggs.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just political figures. Aviation safety in Alaska lags the rest of the country, but recent data point to possible improvements.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Air Safety Institute, Alaska\u2019s fatality rate per hours flown in small private aircraft used to be almost twice as high as elsewhere. It has declined dramatically since 2016, but is still higher than the national average. Same for air taxis and other small commercial aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>Colleen Mondor, a Fairbanks pilot and aviation writer with encyclopedic knowledge of Alaska\u2019s plane accidents, thinks aviation safety in Alaska hasn\u2019t garnered sustained national attention, because each accident results in only a few fatalities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery now and again there\u2019s a big one, a mid-air. \u2026 that breaks through the national news,\u201d she said \u201cBut mostly we die like this \u2013 one or two or three at a time. It just gets lost.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s sick of seeing the blame placed on Alaska\u2019s weather. Other places have severe weather, too, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not the weather. Okay?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that \u2018Oh, my God, that weather was so bad.\u2019 It\u2019s what was the information provided on the weather?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The real problem \u2013 she and other aviation experts say \u2013 is that Alaska hasn\u2019t had enough safety infrastructure, like paved runways, statewide communication coverage and \u2014 one of the most critical \u2013 weather reporting equipment.<\/p>\n<p>In Alaska, the FAA and the National Weather Service manage about 140 automated weather stations that provide crucial information to pilots.<\/p>\n<p>Tom George, Alaska manager for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said that\u2019s not nearly enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019d have to get about 180 more stations in Alaska to have the same average density that the rest of the country enjoys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Telecom and radar gaps leave Alaska pilots in the dark in some spots, he said.<\/p>\n<p>The FAA declined interview requests on Friday but said it is making improvements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re increasing and improving\u00a0<a role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/newsroom\/faa-begins-adding-weather-reporting-stations-across-alaska\">weather data reporting and forecasting<\/a>, expanding satellite-based air-traffic control coverage to more areas,\u00a0<a role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/newsroom\/charted-faa-releases-new-maps-alaskas-brooks-range\">improving navigation charting<\/a>, and publishing\u00a0<a role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.faa.gov\/newsroom\/faa-activates-new-gps-guided-routes-alaska-fly-below-hazardous-weather\">new GPS-guided routes<\/a>\u00a0that allow pilots to navigate\u00a0<a role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alaskasnewssource.com\/2022\/10\/08\/faa-alters-adds-routes-alaska-air-travel\/\">direct flight paths at lower altitudes<\/a>\u00a0to avoid icing conditions,\u201d the agency said in an email.<\/p>\n<p>George also credits the FAA for installing more weather cameras, which he said in some ways provide more useful information than weather stations, and they can be installed in mountain passes and other critical remote spots.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s proven to be a great way to actually get a look directly at the weather and help people figure out whether they should take off or whether they should drink more coffee and wait for better conditions to improve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In July, the U.S. House passed an FAA reform bill that would, among other things, call for more weather equipment to be deployed in Alaska. Congresswoman Peltola voted for it last summer and urged the Senate to do the same.<\/p>\n<p>So far, there\u2019s no indication that Alaska\u2019s weather or aviation infrastructure played a role in Buzzy Peltola\u2019s death. The National Transportation Safety Board said it will take up to three weeks for a preliminary report, and a final report could take up to two years.<\/p>\n<p>source: <a href=\"https:\/\/alaskapublic.org\/2023\/09\/18\/aviation-experts-say-infrastructure-gaps-contribute-to-alaskas-air-fatality-rate\/\">https:\/\/alaskapublic.org\/2023\/09\/18\/aviation-experts-say-infrastructure-gaps-contribute-to-alaskas-air-fatality-rate\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aviation news international\u00a0 &#8211; For Alaskans who track political history, the airplane accident that killed Eugene \u201cBuzzy\u201d Peltola, husband of Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola, triggers grim memories. There was the 2010 crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens in Southwest Alaska. The 1978 crash in Anchorage that killed Stevens\u2019s first wife, Ann, and four others, &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8624,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[102,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-flights"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Aviation experts say infrastructure gaps contribute to Alaska\u2019s air fatality rate - aviation news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=8610\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aviation experts say infrastructure gaps contribute to Alaska\u2019s air fatality rate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Aviation news international\u00a0 &#8211; For Alaskans who track political history, the airplane accident that killed Eugene \u201cBuzzy\u201d Peltola, husband of Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola, triggers grim memories. 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