A newly released FAA report about flying safety in Alaska addresses some important issues and what can be done to improve the state’s dismal safety record. Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the FAA’s Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative (FAASI) report that Alaskan aviators don’t already know. Worse, it’s likely that nothing will change unless some leadership backed by money takes on this monumental challenge.
Alaska is unique in that people live in places accessible only by air. They depend on aviation to a level a non-Alaskan can barely understand, thanks to easy availability of small commuter and charter aircraft, many operated by small companies, in the state.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
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