Safety Efforts Aim To Reach Volunteer Pilots

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A new online course addressing safety issues for pilots who fly medical transport flights for charity should be ready by later this summer, Air Care Alliance President Lindy Kirkland said Saturday at the group’s annual meeting, in Providence, R.I. The course is one step the ACA is taking to address safety recommendations issued by the NTSB last year in response to several fatal accidents that occurred in 2007 and 2008. The 45-minute course, which is being developed with support from AOPA’s Air Safety Institute, should be ready in time for EAA AirVenture in July, Kirkland said. He also said more than 200 volunteer pilots attended a “safety stand-down” hosted by the NTSB last month at its training center in Ashburn, Va.

Those attending the ACA conference also heard a report about a major upgrade in the works for the alliance’s website, which will help make it easier for those in need to find help, while also reducing the workload for the volunteer organizations. The new site should be up and running sometime later this year. Also, Jeffrey Kahn, a volunteer with ACA, reported that the House and Senate have both passed different versions of an amendment to the FAA reauthorization bill that would provide some liability protection for volunteer pilots. However, differences in the two amendments still must be worked out before a final version of the bill is agreed on, he said.

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