NTSB Faults Maintenance, Pilots and FAA Oversight (updated 09/17/08)
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) took a focused look at jump plane operations—and didn’t like what it saw. At a public hearing today, the NTSB discussed a special investigative report on jump plane accidents and adopted the report’s findings and recommendations. The investigation looked at a 32 accidents that caused 172 fatalities beginning in 1980 and found three deficient areas: inadequate aircraft maintenance, poor pilot proficiency and performance, and lack of FAA oversight. The Board stressed that the findings don’t describe the entire skydiving industry, but that a number of operators were found to ignore the regulations and a number of pilots displayed a cavalier approach to their responsibilities as professional pilots. At the conclusion of the hearing, the NTSB adopted eight recommendations, among them that the FAA: impose enhanced maintenance requirements, require jump pilot initial and recurrent training programs, develop a method to test and review jump pilot competence, and increase inspections and oversight of jump operators. The Board also adopted two recommendations requesting that USPA work with the FAA on the maintenance and pilot issues and disseminate the resulting guidance to jump operators.
“While some of the report’s data and conclusions can be faulted,” said USPA Executive Director Ed Scott, “and the industry accident record has improved dramatically in the past nine years, USPA sees an opportunity to work with the FAA to gain better understanding and better regulatory compliance among our operators. The safety of our member skydivers and the first-jump public is our first goal, and we’ll gladly work with the FAA to make sure our jump planes are in top shape and our jump pilots competent and ready. We believe this can be accomplished while still flying within the general operating rules of Part 91 that apply to general aviation.”
Within a few weeks the FAA will receive the NTSB report and recommendations and decide on the appropriate agency response. Meanwhile, USPA will discuss the full range of issues with the FAA.
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