October GAARMS Report fred-gibbs
by Fred Gibbs 

“LADY LUCK” still continues to smile on the GA community here in Arizona! We are still at the “ONLY ONE FATAL ACCIDENT” rate so far state-wide for 2015, and only two out-of-state fatal accidents involving an Arizona-based pilot. Whatever you are doing, keep doing it! Just in case you were wondering, I did not include the military accident that occurred down in Yuma – GAARMS only deals with GA accidents.

Whatever we are doing, it is working. You always hear me say “If you are NOT part of the (safety) solution, you may just be part of the problem.” What could be causing this great period of safety? Are we just getting better at flying? Or are we just lucky this year? Maybe our flying hours are down, so our exposure is less. There has been a huge influx of technology into GA over the past several years, like ADS-B for traffic and weather awareness, the growth of flight following and the safety that it brings, the new 406Mhz ELTs, the advent of SPOT and SpyderTracks for electronic flight following, and enhanced Search and Rescue processes and procedures, personal locator beacons, etc. All good things, but then monsoon season was NOT so kind to us, with some wicked weather in the valley. Mother Nature damaging and destroying several aircraft at Chandler, and treated us to torrential rains, dust storms, and strong winds, but we survived all that with no fatal accidents. We have about 90 days left in 2015 – please continue to do whatever you are doing and we can make this the safest year I have ever seen, and leave me with not much to say at GAARMS 2016!

Effective this month, there are several new changes coming out from the FAA that affect all of us who use flight service –

First, Enroute Flight Advisory Service (EFAS) – commonly called Flight Watch - has been eliminated as a separate service, and the associated frequencies, 122.0 and all of the discrete high altitude frequencies, have been, or will be, decommissioned. Flight Watch was specifically intended to provide current, live weather for aircraft in flight by specially trained FSS specialists. Now, all FSS specialists have been trained to provide this service, and this service will be available over standard FSS frequencies.

Second, the emergency frequency, 121.5, is being moved out of flight Service into ATC facilities, resulting in responses to any emergency calls on 121.5 being answered by either air traffic control towers, TRACONs or Centers. Most of the facilities involved in this change will be radar equipped facilities to quickly locate and assist anyone calling for help. The advent and equipage of ADS-B is a big player in this change.

Third, Hazardous Area Reporting Service (HARS) is also eliminated. Did you know Flight Service even provided this service? Well, if you flew over the Everglades or the Great Lakes you might be familiar with it, but it does not exist out here in the west except for maybe up over the Rockies. It was a service you participated in by requesting it from flight service, then making position reports every 15 minutes or as prescribed by flight service. Now-a-days almost everyone uses flight following. That service is provided by ATC using radar. You get a specific transponder code to track you on radar, thus enabling faster, more precise Search and Rescue should you need it.

Last, Airport Advisory Service (AAS) and Remote Airport Advisory Service (RAAS) will be discontinued at those 19 or so non-towered airports where it has been provided in the past. This service was voluntary only, was a left-over from the old, old days, and minimally used, thus is being eliminated. Impact will be nominal if barely noticed at all. Standard non-towered airport operations and procedures will be employed in place of AAS or RAAS.

None of these are earth shattering. This will provide better service now and allow for the modernization of flight service in the future, and that modernization and transformation of flight service is on the very near horizon. The future flight service will NOT be your fathers’ flight service – it is in for a major transformation, so stand by!

On the subject of safety, there are two very interesting WINGS safety programs in the month of October – the first one over in Mesa on Saturday, October 10th, at ASU’s campus. It is on drones or, if you prefer, unmanned aerial systems, and the 2nd, up in Flagstaff on October 17th, will talk about “When should I declare an Emergency” and “It has been 11 months since my last annual – is my airplane still airworthy?”

For those of you that fly to the north country – you know, up here in Flagstaff – you do realize that winter is coming, right?? Those of us who live up here certainly do recognize the change is coming, as late night temperatures are already down in the 40’s. With winter comes a whole lot of flying – and landing – issues. If you plan to fly north this season, you need to consider not only the weather, but the entire environment, i.e., temperature changes and dressing accordingly, aircraft protection, like covers, removing wheel pants, oil cooler covers, brooms and scrapers to clean off your aircraft, and even engine heaters. If you would like a winter flying safety program at your local airport, simply contact APA via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can connect with me through the Safety Program Director, or you can contact me, Fred Gibbs, at 410-206-3753 or email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The Arizona Pilots Association provides the safety programs at no charge. We can also help you organize a program of your choice, and we can recommend programs that your pilot community might really like.

 

 wingman-poster

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