Online Editor

Chad Trautvetter

<p>The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) late last week released its first accident and incident review of the Part 135 on-demand air charter industry. According to ACSF, the new safety report takes a comprehensive look at the factors surrounding charter incidents and accidents between 2004 and last year. The foundation analyzed each Part 135 on-demand event reported in the NTSB database, including ferry, positioning and instructional flights among others. However, it did not include mishaps for Part 91 flights conducted under the operational control of an aircraft owner. ACSF found several interesting trends from the data: about 65 percent of all revenue flight accidents occurred in VMC versus 62 percent for non-revenue trips; nonrevenue (Part 91) fatal accidents accounted for 28 percent of all nonrevenue accidents, while 25 percent of all revenue flights were fatal accidents; and revenue accident flights involving transportation to/from oil rigs represented about 18 percent of all accidents during the five-year period. “The ACSF refrains from drawing specific conclusions about these figures as the means to place them into proper context is dependent upon an accurate reporting of flight hours in each category,” it noted. “Such data is not collected by either the FAA or NTSB.” The Part 135 Incident/Accident Review is now being delivered to ACSF members; non-members can order a copy for $25.</p>


<p>News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.</p>


Comprehensive Charter Safety Review Issued by ACSF

The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) late last week released its first accident and incident review of the Part 135 on-demand air charter industry.