NTSB Safety Investigation Targets Part 135 Operators

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released the results of a special investigation involving more than 500 accidents between 2010 and 2022. The study focused on commercial operations involving commuter air carriers, air tour operators, air ambulance services, on-demand business charter flights and some other operations. The NTSB reported it launched the investigation in 2022 following “a cluster of safety issues” involving Part 135 operators. The initiative did not include Part 121 major airline operations.

Recommendations included three new safety measures issued to the FAA and reiterating a pair of previously recommended safety enhancements. The new recommendations started with unsafe loading conditions. The report cited four accidents involving single-engine aircraft where improper loading was identified. It recommends mandating that flight manifests and weight-and-balance documentation be recorded for all aircraft operated under Part 135.

Next up was certification for dispatchers for certain operations. Twelve accidents cited in the investigation time frame were blamed, at least in part, on non-certified flight dispatchers. The NTSB said, “Certificated flight dispatchers would expand the safety margins of many Part 135 operations because of improved quality control over functions such as preflight weather, fuel and route planning, active monitoring of conditions along the route of flight and timely notification of emergency response organizations if an aircraft is overdue.”

Finally, the investigation noted that improved flight data monitoring programs “could provide Part 135 operators with objective information on how their pilots conduct flights, and a periodic revive of such information could assist operators in detecting and correcting unsafe deviation from company standard operating procedures.”

The NTSB said that Special Investigation Report AIR-24-03, titled “Safety and Industry Data Improvements for Part 135 Operations,” is available at the above link.