Keep Focused On Safety When Arriving At A Major Fly-In Event

The NTSB has issued a Safety Alert addressing concerns for arrivals at major fly-in events such as, Sun ‘n Fun and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. The alert says these events pose unique challenges for pilots, and air traffic controllers, including extremely high density traffic, special flight and communication procedures, a rapid change in the environment, and changes to air traffic control separation standards.

This is something we have been talking about in AeroSports Update for the last two years. It’s critically important that before flying to these air events, or any major air event which involves heavy traffic, that your pilot skills are sharp, and your knowledge of all procedures regarding the event is up-to-date.

The Safety Alert Bulletin is lengthy and detailed. A link is provided below to allow you to read the complete bulletin, but much of what is included is common sense. In the Safety Alert, the NTSB emphasizes the importance of receiving proper NOTAM information regarding the events far enough ahead of time so that it can be completely reviewed. They also remind us that traffic separation standards are reduced, and this can be disconcerting to pilots who are not used to this sort of heavy traffic.

The Safety Bulletin also reviews accidents that are related to the high density traffic surrounding large air events. This is a case where reviewing the mistakes other people made could be important for your own safety.

Flying Into events like Sun ‘n Fun and EAA AirVenture can be safe but, it’s up to the pilot to make the decision as to whether or not this is for them. These two events are examples where other airport choices are available if pilots do not feel comfortable with going into the primary event airport.

Sun ‘n Fun is already underway, but we will be saying more about EAA AirVenture as we get closer to showtime.

FMI: NTSB Safety Alert