r2p

During the 1990s, Alaskan workers faced an occupational fatality rate over three times the national average.1 Aircraft crashes were the second leading cause of occupational deaths in Alaska during this period.2 Commercial pilots in Alaska had an occupational fatality rate of 410 deaths per 100,000 workers--five times greater than the rate for all U.S. pilots and nearly 100 times greater than the rate for all U.S. workers.3 In 2000, the U.S. Congress funded the Alaska Interagency Aviation Safety Initiative (AIASI) with the goal of decreasing occupational aircraft crash fatalities in Alaska in half by 2010. The AIASI was a multifaceted public health approach that focused on air taxi and commuter operations and preventing crashes that were the result of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). CFIT is the act of flying an airworthy, pilot-controlled aircraft into mountains, water or other terrain. Research had identified CFIT as a frequent cause of aviation-related fatalities, especially in situations in which a pilot departed in good visibility conditions but continued into areas of reduced visibility or poor weather.March, 2013.On back page: Logo for the Research to Practice at NIOSH initiative (r2p).Also available via the World Wide Web Acrobat .pdf file (1.26 MB, 2 p.)