Idaho Aeronautics receives national safety award

Idaho’s Division of Aeronautics won the prestigious Aviation Education Award at the recent National Association of State Aviation Officials annual conference in Boise for a safety initiative at Idaho’s most popular backcountry airstrip, the Johnson Creek Airstrip near Yellow Pine, a small village east of McCall.

The awards were presented Tuesday night (Sept. 22) during the final evening of the 84th annual conference. Idaho’s was one of only five national awards given. Pictured at right is Division of Aeronautics Administrator Mike Pape and NASAO 2015 Chairperson Carol Comer.

The award was based on the “Johnson Creek Airstrip Standard Operating Procedures” published in 2014 in the aftermath of a fatal mid-air collision at that airstrip the year prior.  Aeronautics staff collaborated with the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Association, and state backcountry flight instructors to produce this instructional document, providing formal airstrip recommendations, which has proven especially helpful to pilots unfamiliar with the area. 

Available on the Idaho Airports App and the Division of Aeronautics website, these Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) include specific mountain-flying techniques, altitudes, routes, reporting points, radio frequencies, hazards and caution notes, in addition to up-to-date mountain-flying instruction resources.

“Pilots cannot learn to safely fly the Idaho backcountry by reading a 17-page manual, so we strongly encourage instruction and practice in mountain-flying, supplemented with the guidance delivered in this quick-reference resource,” said ITD’s Division of Aeronautics Administrator Mike Pape. “The SOP outlines the most important information about the airstrip. I believe the use of this resource would have prevented that 2013 tragedy had it been available."

Five SOPs have been published for the most popular state-managed airstrips, and a sixth, for Stanley Airport, will be published in 2016.  The SOPs are part of Idaho’s Backcountry Safety Initiative, an educational program developed in 2014 to reduce general-aviation accidents in the state by 50 percent over the next five years.   

Idaho contains nine million roadless acres and thousands of recreationalists seeking access to the area for camping, fishing and hunting.  Access by air became such an important requirement that nearly 100 backcountry airstrips were developed over the past 75 years for forest management, fire suppression and mining support. Today, thousands of general-aviation pilots come to fly the Idaho backcountry to experience mountain flying at its best. 

Visit the Idaho Division of Aeronautics website to reference the SOPs and link to the Idaho Airport App, or call (208) 334-8775 for further information.

 


Published 09-25-15