NTSB Calls For Specific Safety Mandates For Ketchikan Air Tours

Calling on the FAA to take direct regulatory action, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy said today (Nov. 29), “There have been too many air tour tragedies in Ketchikan, [Alaska], 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 is requesting special regulations, specific to Ketchikan, mandating more conservative flight visibility minimums and enhanced weather training for air tour pilots operating in the region. In a report issued today and available at this link on the NTSB website, the board cited seven fatal air tour accidents in and around Ketchikan in the past 15 years. They resulted in 31 fatalities and another 13 serious injuries, and “highlighted the need for a more robust approach to reduce the risks to air tour passengers and the pilots flying them,” according to the report.

Citing the particularly dangerous combination of “a rapidly changing weather environment and mountainous terrain” in the region, the board recommended that the FAA issue special federal aviation regulations (SFARs) that it said have proved effective in reducing fatal air tour accidents in other geographic regions with area-specific operational hazards, such as the Grand Canyon and Hawaii. Those SFARs included mandating minimum flight altitudes, enhanced safety-equipment requirements and airspace limitations.

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