Commuter Flying Made Safer : FAA will mandate training aimed at reducing pilot-related accidents
For airline passengers accustomed to the comforts and convenience of modern jet travel, hopscotching on a cramped turboprop--the typical passenger plane of America’s commuter airlines--may seem like choosing the luggage compartment over first class. Even so, as fierce competition causes major airlines to stop flying to many areas, travelers increasingly are turning to regional commuter airliners--noise and bumps notwithstanding.
Last year commuter planes, defined as passenger aircraft with fewer than 60 seats, carried 51 million people, or about 12% of the nation’s air passengers--up from 11 million since deregulation of the airline industry in 1978.
Government statistics show that over the last 15 years the number of accidents involving these planes dropped dramatically. In fact, 1993 was the second-safest year on record for commuter planes, although flying hours nearly doubled over the same period. However, the rate of commuter plane accidents is about five times that of larger airliners.
As testimony before a congressional subcommittee revealed this week, the overwhelming majority of those accidents, including the crash of a Northwest Airlink flight that killed 18 near Hibbing, Minn., last December, can be attributed to shortcomings in pilot judgment and training.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Federal Aviation Administrator David R. Hinson announced that his agency will strengthen pilot safety and training standards, particularly for those pilots who fly planes that carry fewer than 30 passengers. From now on, those pilots must take refresher training on flight simulators every six months.
That should ease the safety problem. So will new policies that address communication between flight crews and aircraft dispatchers, who alert pilots to safety factors such as weather and runway conditions.
Implementation of new policies at the FAA typically moves slowly. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena should prod the FAA to adopt the standards quickly--bureaucratic noise and bumps notwithstanding.
