A lifelong aviation enthusiast who joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in 2007, Curt came to&nbsp;the publication&nbsp;from the broadcast industry where he was a national science and technology television reporter and producer. He writes on the FBO field, aviation finance, and sustainable aviation and occasionally contributes to&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;sister publication&nbsp;Business Jet Traveler. Curt was a member of the AINtv reporting staff that won the 2008 Aerospace Journalist of the Year award for Best Airshow Daily. That same year, he was a finalist for another AJOYA award. He earned an AJOYA for Best Business Aviation Submission in 2018 and was a finalist in that category in 2021. He received the National Air Transportation Association’s&nbsp; Aviation Journalist Award in 2012 and won a Pegasus Sapphire Business Aviation Award for outstanding journalism in 2021.
Before joining AIN, Curt worked with&nbsp;Consumer Reports’ television division, CRTV, and for several local television news staffs. An honors graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook, he earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University in 1995. Curt lives in New York State with his wife and two young sons.

Business Aviation Services Editor

Curt Epstein

A new <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/29261/chapter/1">report</a> from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is calling on the FAA to classify atmospheric radiation as an occupational hazard and to install more cohesive testing, monitoring, and education for flight crews.
From natural radiation exposure during flight, crewmembers receive among the highest occupational exposures to radiation among workers in the U.S., but they lack regulatory protections in comparison to other radiation-exposed workers, the congressionally commissioned report stated. Although the radiation dose received during any individual flight is generally low, evidence indicates that the cumulative dose accrued over the course of a career may increase the risk of adverse health outcomes.
The FAA has recognized radiation exposure as an occupational “consideration” for more than 35 years, but the report pointed out that current means to measure radiation exposure, as well as communicate risks with the industry, are “inconsistent and insufficient.”
“Radiation exposure is an unavoidable part of a flight crewmember’s job, and we need to do more to ensure that flight crew health and safety are sufficiently prioritized,” said Jonathan Samet, chair of the committee that wrote the report. Samet is a professor of epidemiology and occupational health and was formerly the dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. “We hope our report will be a guide to revising approaches to the problem, strengthen oversight, and empower crewmembers with the information they need to make decisions about their health.”
According to the report, the FAA “should begin exerting its regulatory authority over ionizing radiation exposure of flight crewmembers,” build upon its investment in the CARI dose model developed by the agency’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, and create a user-friendly, web-based application for the model to help crewmembers track their own exposure levels.
In the short term, the report authors urge the FAA to require U.S. airlines to implement comprehensive radiation safety programs, as well as work with appropriate agencies to establish a dose-tracking system for flight crews to monitor radiation exposure.
To address longer-horizon challenges, the FAA and collaborating organizations should systematically evaluate and compare radiation exposure models under realistic operating conditions. A National Academies <a href="https://www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DELS-NRSB-25-01/event/46903">webinar</a> on the topic will be held on June 29.

News and information on safety procedures and concerns.

New Report Urges Closer Scrutiny of In-flight Crew Radiation Risks

The report says current measuring, monitoring, and education are insufficient

A new report calls for closer FAA scrutiny of the risks of long-term atmospheric radiation on flight crews.

New Report Urges Closer Scrutiny of Crew Radiation Risk

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Amy Wilder

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Altitude and course deviation, traffic proximity remain top categories

ACSF Data Shows Stable Bizav Risk Amid 2026 Pressures

Kerry Lynch

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

Aircraft remained within separation guidance but neared each other after the presidential helicopter was unable to alert ATC

Faulty Comms Preceded Marine One/Envoy Close Call

Graham leaving agency within months of confirmation to another term

NTSB Vice Chair Michael Graham To Retire October 2

Stuart “Kipp” Lau

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

UK CAA concerned over rise in unstable approaches continuing to land

AINsight: Go-arounds Are a Normal and Expected Outcome

News about significant aircraft accidents and information from accident reports.

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

Helicopters more than twice as vulnerable to loss of visual reference accidents than airplanes

TSB: Rotorcraft More Prone To Loss-of-visual-reference Accidents

Charlotte Bailey

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

More In Safety

ACSF Data Shows Stable Bizav Risk Amid 2026 Pressures

Altitude and course deviation, traffic proximity remain top categories

Faulty Comms Preceded Marine One/Envoy Close Call

Aircraft remained within separation guidance but neared each other after the presidential helicopter was unable to alert ATC

NTSB Vice Chair Michael Graham To Retire October 2

Graham leaving agency within months of confirmation to another term

AINsight: Go-arounds Are a Normal and Expected Outcome

UK CAA concerned over rise in unstable approaches continuing to land

TSB: Rotorcraft More Prone To Loss-of-visual-reference Accidents

Helicopters more than twice as vulnerable to loss of visual reference accidents than airplanes

EASA: Atmospheric Icing Insufficiently Understood

European air safety agency calls for more comprehensive studies into phenomenon

Embry-Riddle Introduces ‘Safer Skies’ Video Podcasts

First episode features three-time space shuttle veteranJanet Kavandi

Li-ion Thermal Runaways on the Rise in Aircraft Cabins

Numbers are rising and the risk of a serious incident is increasing

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN