A National Transportation Safety Board hearing on air race and air show safety Tuesday in Washington will provide officials with critical information into the workings of a popular form of family entertainment, air race and air show proponents say.
Cities across the country have hundreds of air shows each year, said Howie Keefe, 90, a veteran air racer whom the agency asked to analyze the deadly crash Sept. 16 at the Reno National Championship Air Races that left 11 dead and about 70 injured.
"This is much bigger than the Reno Air Race,” Keefe said.
But Mike Danko, a San Mateo, Calif.-based pilot and lawyer who has handled numerous aviation cases, including air show crashes, said the hearing will provide the agency with a unique opportunity to unveil weaknesses in Federal Aviation Administration regulation.
It will all depend on the questions the board asks, Danko said.
Agency spokesman Terry Williams said the hearing was not a direct response to the Reno Air Race crash. The information gathered at the hearing will help NTSB staff during its investigations.
In addition to looking into the deadly Sept. 16 Reno Air Race crash, the agency is investigating another Reno Air Race crash the day before, as well as one during a June practice . Five other accidents that happened at air shows across the country in 2011 also are under investigation, Williams said.
That brings to eight the number of air race and air show accidents in 2011.
Mike Houghton, president and chief executive of the Reno Air Racing Association, is scheduled to make a presentation to the board Tuesday morning along with other aviation event organizations. Another panel includes FAA members and members of the International Council of Air Shows, an organization that works with air shows and regulators.
This hearing is the first of its kind for the air racing and air show industry, Keefe said.If NTSB members dig deep into air show operations and ask tough questions about qualifications of participants and engineering standards, Danko said they may be surprised.When the NTSB investigates an aviation crash, it often makes simplified conclusions about what happened, such as ”the pilot failed to maintain adequate separation with another aircraft,” Danko said.
”Often, the reports don’t step back and get the bigger picture,” he said.
This hearing will allow the board to ask questions about air show and air race operations, such as whether an ”air boss” who oversees the aircraft at an air show has the proper training for the job or whether helicopters that give rides to spectators must undergo regular maintenance.
”This board is aggressive in general, compared with the board five years ago,” Danko said. ”They’re getting tougher and braver and taking more controversial stances.”
One example of the board’s tough stance: A 2009 recommendation in response to numerous crashes of emergency medical helicopters, that Medicare not pay an air ambulance unless it met certain safety standards, Danko said.
More recently, the board recommended a ban on all cell-phone use in cars.
At the same time, Keefe said it’s important for the board to understand how important these air shows are for tourism.
”They bring the whole community together,” he said. ”You don’t want to nix the air show industry. ”
According to the International Council of Air Shows, U.S. and Canadian cities play host to 325 to 350 every year with a total attendance of 10 million to 12 million people. The industry generates about $110 million in revenue annually.
Keefe said the industry is largely self-regulated because pilots and engineers are the most qualified to determine whether another pilot can handle a certain race or course or whether a certain design can handle the stress of a trick or race.
”The classes themselves can say yes or no to a person who wants to race. If they can’t do a roll, they can’t race,” Keefe said. ”The FAA can’t do that. We rely on the expertise of the people in the industry to make the decisions.”
While air shows and races may be popular, ”there are absolutely safety issues,” Danko said.
The day after the deadly Sept. 16 crash at the Reno Air Race, a pilot died when his post-World War II plane crashed into a runway at an air show in Martinsburg, W.Va.
”People come out and want to see air planes and have a great Saturday afternoon,” Danko said. ”But some of these shows are run on a shoestring.”
Source: Associated Press
Gravity always wins!