Page 54 - World Airnews Magazine May 2021 Edition

CHARTER

ARE YOUR CHARTER FLIGHTS

SAFE?

Thanks largely to stringent regulations, accidents are rare. You
could help make them even rarer.
By Gordon Gilbert

passengers, with a single 2015 accident accounting for nine of the
fatalities.
If you charter aircraft, you may be wondering about the safety of
your flights. The good news is that charter represents one of the HOW THE PANDEMIC IS CHANGING THE CHARTER
safest forms of non-airline flying. That’s because charter operators CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
employ professional and experienced crews, and because the Providers implement safety measures but worry about the
Federal Aviation Administration has always overseen passen- “impersonal” touch.
ger-paying flights more strictly than private operations. The NTSB - a consistent voice for upgrading charter regulations -
In the US, the FAA’s federal aviation regulations (FARs) mandate concluded that if the operator in that 2015 crash had had a Safety
safety rules for all aircraft. Part 91 is the least demanding of the Management System (SMS), cockpit voice recorder (CVR), or
FARs, providing great flexibility in operational requirements, flight data recorder (FDR), either voluntarily or by regulation, the
training, and maintenance. accident might have been prevented.
Companies that fly aircraft in which the passengers own Another charter accident in which the aircraft (a large turbine
fractional portions are regulated under Part 91K, a subsection of helicopter) did not have, and was not required to have, a CVR
Part 91 but with tighter requirements. and FDR killed the pilot and eight passengers. That 2020 accident
On-demand air charter (aka air taxi) operators fall under the and its on-going investigation have received considerable media
stricter Part 135, the regulation that also applies to scheduled coverage because one of the victims was former professional
commuter airliners with 10 or fewer passenger seats. basketball player Kobe Bryant.
Finally, the FAA requires the major airlines to follow Part 121,
the most demanding of the FARs. EXCEEDING THE MINIMUMS
Thanks largely to the Part 135 rules, only three of the 35 A key safety factor for any operator is whether it elects to exceed
fatal accidents involving US business jets between 2010 and the minimum regulatory requirements. For example, many Part
2020 concerned charter flights, according to the National 135 charter companies voluntarily operate to the higher standards
Transportation Safety Board. of Part 121 regulations even though this increases expenses and
Those charter accidents claimed the lives of 18 crew and reduces operational flexibility.

World Airnews | May Extra 2021
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