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) is urging the FAA to mandate increased use of Common Traffic Advisory Frequencies (CTAF) by pilots near non-towered airports, especially in Alaska, to prevent midair collisions.
This recommendation follows a preliminary investigation into a fatal midair collision near Soldotna, Alaska, which killed seven people and highlighted risks in uncontrolled airspace.
The NTSB specifically recommends establishing more CTAF areas in high-risk Alaskan locations, assigning a single frequency for non-towered airports within these areas, and defining mandatory position reporting requirements.

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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.