By Rob Stapleton
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Anchorage-based Federal Aviation Administration safety team members held a meeting recently for Anchorage-area flight instructors and pilot examiners in hopes of improving flight safety. But only a handful showed.

The FAA notified 450 certified flight instructors and designated pilot examiners to get their input on a new safety initiative, said David Karalunas, an FAA Safety Team representative.

Karalunas and FAA Safety Team program Director John Steurernagle hosted the March 19 safety meeting in Anchorage in hopes of getting instructors and examiners together to outline a new flight-training curriculum.

The FAA is concerned about crash statistics in Alaska that have continued to catch the eye of upper management within the administration. FAAST team members were hoping to get some answers from the crowd.

“We have been handed an agenda based on statistics that show Alaska has the highest accident rate per capita,” Steurernagle said. “We need help with this.”

Alaska air taxi operators, referred to as Part 135 operators, represent 12 percent of the nation's carriers. There are 2,293 total in the U.S, and 266 based in and flying only in Alaska.

For the period between June 15, 2002, and June 15, 2007, the Alaska Part 135 operations represented 31 percent of the nation's accidents and 14 percent of the nation's fatal accidents, which are accidents that had at least one fatality. These statistics are the highest rate of any other state in the country.

In light of the statistics, the FAA deployed safety teams to hold meetings to meet with instructors and examiners on a quarterly basis.

“We want to re-energize CFIs to solve these safety issues in hopes of reducing accidents,” said Karalunas.

But it seems some instructors are not buying into the changes.

“There are probably 600 or more instructors and this is all we have, 14 people,” said Marcus Paine, a flight instructor and flight school business owner, during the recent Anchorage meeting. “The Anchorage crowd is a different beast, we are gong to have to try something else.”

Paine and flyer Greg Stoddard volunteered to round up other flight instructors for a committee meeting, scheduled for March 25, to address how to get more participation.

“Another new program is not what is needed,” said Paine. “What is needed is more participation by instructors, and instructors who teach more professionally.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise during the workshop was the announcement that the nonprofit Medallion Foundation has dropped its Medallion Flyer program, a popular safety awareness for general aviation pilots.

“The (Medallion Foundation) board took a look at the numbers. They figured that they spent $11,000 per airman, they received less money from earmarks, so something had to go,” said Karalunas.

To replace the flyer program, the FAA safety team pointed out that they have a similar online program for pilots. The program is meant to engage pilots in continual education, which the FAA thinks will improve decision-making, thus result in a reduction in aircraft accidents.

The program requires both online testing and actual flying that, once completed, offers points that will allow the renewal of an instructor certificate. This migration to online testing and training and the use of flight simulators worries some flight instructors.

“That's not what we need, an additional three hours a month on a computer. What about instructor-to-student face time?” Stoddard said.

Paine is also concerned about the use of computers and flight simulators used at the Medallion Foundation.

“You have to get in the water to learn how to swim,” said Paine. “Simulators and computers have their place, but there is nothing that is going to replace the real experience of flying.”

Paine and Stoddard agree that changes need to be made in flight instruction to slash accidents in Alaska.

“Hey we fly lower and slower and heavier than anyplace else in the U.S.,” said Paine. “You aren't going to stop accidents, flying into sandbars and gravel strips by simulation. Only a hands-on approach to slow-flight training is going to help a pilot know how to handle the variables.”

Rob Stapleton can be reached at rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com.