FAA's Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative

FAA’s Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative

Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 03:51 PM ET

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General aviation is by far the best way to get around Alaska, but the state's size, terrain, weather and lack of infrastructure can make it riskier than in the Lower 48. Here, a float-equipped Cessna A18SF Skywagon operated by the U.S.Department of the interior departs Anchorage's Lake Hood, the largest seaplane base in the world. Photo Credit: Jereon Stroes Aviation Photography

Key Takeaways:

Alaska's aviation infrastructure is severely outdated and insufficient, leading to a significantly higher accident rate, especially for Part 135 operations, despite the state's heavy reliance on air travel due to limited roads.
The FAA's Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative (FAASI) report confirms widespread deficiencies, including poor weather reporting, a lack of usable IFR routes, and obsolete navigation systems, with infrastructure decades behind the lower 48.
Despite identifying critical safety issues and potential modern solutions, the FAASI report offers largely general recommendations for future study and evaluation rather than concrete, immediate action plans to upgrade the state's vital aviation systems.

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Due to Alaska’s wide-ranging geography and limited road system, residents are heavily dependent upon air travel. In October, the FAA released the final report of its Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative (FAASI), which provides an up-to-date look at the continued problems plaguing the state’s aviation infrastructure. Completed in response to a 2020 recommendation from the NTSB, FAASI was designed to work with stakeholders in Alaska to “review, prioritize and integrate” the state’s safety needs with the FAA’s own processes.

The end result included input from about 100 individuals and organizations, who offered their insight and opinions on problems ranging from poor weather reporting to a lack of IFR routes. While the FAASI recommendations are all largely general in nature and skewed toward continued evaluation, development and study of various concerns, the final report (along with its earlier interim report released in April) is a document well worth reviewing.