See And Avoid.org Designed To Help GA Pilots Avoid Midair Collisions Through Proper Flight Planning

The FAA, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, has launched the "See and Avoid" website on FAASafety.gov.

Originally created by the Air National Guard Aviation Safety Division and funded by the Defense Safety Oversight Council, it now includes all military services. Our goal is to eliminate midair collisions and reduce close calls through continuous flight safety and proper flight planning. By promoting information exchange between civilian pilots and the military flight safety community, we hope to provide one-stop shopping to help all of us safely share the skies.

This portal will allow users to find and link to all existing military Mid-Air Collision Avoidance (MACA) programs in a single web site, while also enjoying new access to information from military bases that did not previously have web-based content.

Since 1978, there has been an average of 30 midair collisions in the United States each year. These collisions resulted in an average of 75 deaths per year. There are also over 450 Near Midair Collisions (NMACs) reported each year; no one can calculate the number that have gone unreported! As recently as February, 2006 a civilian pilot was killed in a single plane crash after colliding with an Air Force jet. In many cases, one  or both of the aircraft are not aware that a midair collision nearly occurred. Particularly in cases where military and civilian aircraft come into close proximity, lack of basic information regarding military flight characteristics creates problems among civilian pilots. FAA regulations and EAA guidelines just aren't enough.

The SeeAndAvoid.org portal offers a centralized, credible website that provides civilian and military pilots with reciprocal information and education on airspace, visual identification, aircraft performance, and mutual hazards to safe flight - with the ultimate goal of eliminating midair collisions and reducing the number of close calls. After all, what price can be put on proper flight safety and flight planning?

This portal is targeting two user groups. The first group is General Aviation (GA) Pilots, who we encourage to include SeeAndAvoid.org as part of their flight planning. From weather to Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) to flight planning, pilots in general and civilian pilots in particular, use the Internet to get their most important flight safety information. As important as the weather, knowing where the military operational flying areas are - and how to avoid that airspace - is crucial to a safe flight. Unexpected turbulence, icing, terrain obscured by fog, or a jet flying low at 500 knots; each one is just as deadly to the GA pilot if not planned for prior to takeoff.

The second group targeted are the military safety officers at all military bases. This portal site provides every participating DoD flying base in the U.S. with the opportunity to create a web-based MACA educational and public outreach program. This web-based MACA program, intended primarily for an audience of 750,000 civil pilots, is modeled on centralized support, with decentralized execution. This website integrates and links with related sites such as FAA Special Use Airspace, AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation, and the new FAA MADE (military airspace deconfliction) program.

The interface is simple to use with point-and-click interaction, predominately using Google maps and graphics for ease of use and is designed to include the MACA programs of all DoD aviation installations in the Continental United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.

FMI: www.FAASafety.gov