ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The National Transportation Safety Board is calling for new federal regulations to safeguard Ketchikan flightseeing tours following years of deadly crashes, several of them involving cruise ship passengers and bad weather.
Seven flightseeing crashes in and around Ketchikan since 2007 have killed 31 people and seriously injured 13 others despite a longstanding voluntary safety program signed by flight companies, according to a 20-page report the NTSB released Tuesday.
Now the agency wants the Federal Aviation Administration to replace the voluntary program with special rules for Ketchikan requiring weather training for pilots, including how to assess conditions while they’re flying.
