FAA Capstone Program: Phase II Baseline Report (Southeast Alaska) Item Type Report Authors Berman, Matthew; Daniels, Wayne; Brian, Jerry; Hill, Alexandra; Kirk, Leonard; Martin, Stephanie; Seger, Jason; Wiita, Amy Publisher Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska. Download date 02/10/2021 21:32:15 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12146 FAA Capstone Program, Phase II Baseline Report Southeast Alaska Prepared by: Matthew Berman Wayne Daniels Jerry Brian Alexandra Hill Leonard Kirk Stephanie Martin Jason Seger Amy Wiita prepared for: Federal Aviation Administration Alaskan Region April 2003 Institute of Social and Economic Research University of Alaska 3211 Providence Drive Anchorage, Alaska 99508 This page intentionally left blank Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................1 1.1. Purpose of Study..........................................................................................................................1 1.2. Description of the Southeast Alaska Area ...................................................................................2 1.3. Air Operations in Southeast Alaska.............................................................................................3 1.4. Review of Recent Studies ............................................................................................................3 2. Aviation Accidents and Incidents in Southeast Alaska ........................................................................7 2.1. Summary......................................................................................................................................7 2.2. Accidents in Alaska and Southeast..............................................................................................7 2.3. Accident Rates .............................................................................................................................9 2.4. Accidents Potentially Preventable by Capstone Equipment ......................................................10 3. Commercial Operations......................................................................................................................13 3.1. Terminal Operations ..................................................................................................................13 3.2. Air Carriers and Commercial Operators....................................................................................14 3.3. Employees..................................................................................................................................16 3.4. Aircraft as of June 2001.............................................................................................................17 3.5. Avionics in Southeast Operator Aircraft as of June 2001..........................................................19 4. Southeast Alaska Aviation Facilities..................................................................................................21 4.1. Airport Facilities........................................................................................................................21 4.2. Runway Characteristics .............................................................................................................23 4.3. Instrument Approaches ..............................................................................................................25 4.4. FAA Facilities............................................................................................................................25 4.5. Communications Facilities.........................................................................................................25 4.6. Weather Reporting Facilities .....................................................................................................27 4.7. Navigation Facilities in Southeast .............................................................................................28 5. Safety programs..................................................................................................................................31 5.1. FAA Requirements ....................................................................................................................31 5.2. Southeast Operator Safety Programs .........................................................................................31 6. FAA Surveillance ...............................................................................................................................31 7. Weather...............................................................................................................................................33 7.1. Common Weather Hazards in Southeast Alaska .......................................................................33 7.2. Weather Variability....................................................................................................................33 7.3. Weather Data Summary.............................................................................................................34 8. Baseline Surveys.................................................................................................................................43 8.1. Purpose.......................................................................................................................................43 8.2. Results........................................................................................................................................43 Appendix A. Southeast Accidents, 1990-2001 ....................................................................................... A-1 Appendix B. Southeast Alaska Airports and Community Population......................................................B-1 Appendix C. Pilot and Operator Surveys .................................................................................................C-1 This page intentionally left blank FAA Capstone Program Baseline Report April 2003 Phase II Southeast Alaska 1. Introduction 1.1. Purpose of Study This report provides the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with information on air safety and aviation infrastructure in southeast Alaska as of December 31, 2002. The data will establish a baseline to enable the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) to conduct an independent evaluation of how the Capstone program affects aviation safety in the region. The FAA contracted with UAA’s Institute of Social and Economic Research and Aviation Technology Division to do a variety of training and evaluation tasks related to the Capstone program. The program is a joint effort of industry and the FAA to improve aviation safety and efficiency in select regions of Alaska, through government-furnished avionics equipment and improvements in ground infrastructure. The first phase of the program began in southwest Alaska in 1999. Phase II, in southeast Alaska, began in March 2003. The name “Capstone” is derived from the way the program draws together concepts and recommendations in reports from the RTCA (formerly Radio Telecommunications Conference of America), the National Transportation Safety Board, the Mitre Corporation’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development, and representatives of the Alaskan aviation industry. The Capstone program in southeast Alaska will install global positioning system (GPS)/wide area augmentation system (WAAS) avionics and data link communications suites in certain commercial aircraft; deploy a ground infrastructure for weather observation, surveillance, and Flight Information Services (FIS); and increase the number of airports served by instrument approaches. It will also create a usable instrument flight rules (IFR) infrastructure by reducing the minimum enroute altitudes on most airways and adding special low altitude routes and approaches. The FAA expects these improvements will reduce the number of mid-air collisions, controlled-flight-into-terrain (CFIT) incidents, and weather- related accidents in southeast Alaska. The program focuses on air carriers conducting passenger and cargo operations under parts 133 and 135 of Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR; 14 CFR, Chapter 1). Part 135 operators typically fly air taxi, commuter, and flightseeing operations; part 133 operators use helicopters for various non-passenger activities such as helicopter logging. Aircraft owned by these carriers will be eligible to receive Capstone avionics in southeast Alaska. A large share of FAR part 135 operations in southeast Alaska are by float planes flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) in the summer season. To form a complete picture of aviation safety in southeast Alaska, this study includes information on the aviation safety record not only of Capstone-eligible aircraft, but also general aviation aircraft, military planes, and private carriers regulated under other FAR parts. We present data on safety incidents dating back 10 or more years, but we emphasize the safety record from 1997 through 2002. Two challenges confront our safety analysis. First, a significant regulatory change during this period confounds attempts to interpret aviation statistics. Second, data on air traffic in Alaska are limited and problematic. We briefly explain each of these issues. In early 1997, the FAA dramatically increased the scope of commercial aviation regulated under the more restrictive FAR part 121.