After Fatal Collision, NTSB Wants FAA to Push for More Use of Common Traffic Advisory Frequencies

Safety board’s preliminary report on 2020 midair collision in Alaska suggests CTAF would have helped avoid it.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, March 09, 2022 at 06:59 PM ET

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The area in Alaska where the collision occurred. [Courtesy: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommends the FAA require pilots to increase their use of Common Traffic Advisory Frequencies (CTAF) for communication, particularly near non-towered airports and in designated high-risk areas in Alaska, to prevent midair collisions.
This recommendation arises from the preliminary investigation into a July 2020 midair collision near Soldotna, Alaska, which tragically killed all seven occupants of a DHC-2 Beaver and a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser.
The NTSB highlights that 12 of 14 midair collisions in Alaska between 2005 and 2020 occurred in uncontrolled airspace, resulting in 35 fatalities, underscoring the urgent need for improved pilot communication.

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The National Transportation Safety Board wants the FAA to urge pilots to make more use of common traffic advisory frequencies (CTAF) as a tool to avoid midair collisions near non-towered airports.

The recommendation comes from lessons learned during the preliminary investigation into the collision of a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver and a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser near Soldotna, Alaska, that resulted in seven fatalities.