AOPA Action

AOPA Responds Vigorously to National Press on Dubroff Crash

AOPA conducted nearly 100 major media interviews on April 11 and 12 in the wake of the tragic crash in Cheyenne, Wyoming, that killed seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff, her father Lloyd, and flight instructor Joseph Reid, an AOPA member.

AOPA told a national audience that the association has consistently opposed long-distance "record" flights by ever younger and younger nonpilots. But AOPA also argued against any new regulations prohibiting a nonpilot from touching the controls even under safe conditions and with supervision by the pilot in command.

AOPA President Phil Boyer appeared on CNN's Larry King Live the evening after the crash and ABC's Good Morning America the next morning.

Association staff conducted in-depth interviews with major news organizations nationwide, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Examiner, the Associated Press, and many more. At one point, as many as five media spokesmen were working simultaneously.

CBS News, NBC's Dateline, and other TV news organizations traveled to AOPA headquarters for briefings and a flight in a Cessna Cardinal flown by AOPA Air Safety Foundation Executive Director Bruce Landsberg.

On numerous talk shows across the nation, AOPA members called in during AOPA interviews to voice their support for the association's position on the issues, a stand that was also backed by an informal survey of members calling AOPA.

Since the first child record flight some 10 years ago, AOPA has declined to endorse or sponsor such flights, even when requested by AOPA members. The potential for devastating negative public opinion from even one crash has always outweighed the positive public relations effect of successful flights.

External pressures of media attention and schedule commitments make such publicity flights more risky than routine trips, especially over long distances, varying terrain, and diverse weather conditions.

AOPA fought calls for regulations or legislation taking away the pilot in command's authority to determine when a nonpilot may safely touch the controls. "We don't need a set of regulatory changes based on a knee-jerk reaction to this unfortunate incident," said Boyer. AOPA also opposes an unreasonable minimum age limit for flight training.

The association stressed the importance and value of safe, controlled aviation experiences for young people, including programs such as the Aviation Explorer Scouts, the cadet flying programs of the Civil Air Patrol, and the EAA Young Eagles effort.

AOPALA Urges Setting Age Limit on Record Flight Attempts

AOPA Legislative Action has asked all members of the House to cosponsor legislation placing an age limit on persons attempting to set a record with an aircraft. The bill was introduced on April 18 by House aviation subcommittee chairman John J. Duncan (R-TN) and ranking minority member William O. Lipinski (D-IL).

"Congressmen Duncan and Lipinski's carefully focused bill addresses the true problems that led to this accident and will ensure that it won't happen again," said AOPA President Phil Boyer, speaking for AOPA Legislative Action.

The Duncan-Lipinski bill states that "no pilot in command...may allow a person who does not hold a valid pilot certificate...to manipulate the controls of an aircraft if that pilot in command knows or should have known that that person is attempting to set a record or engage in an aeronautical competition or an aeronautical feat as defined by the [Federal Aviation] administrator."

FCC Drops Aircraft Radio License; AOPALA Efforts Reduce the Cost of Flying

The Federal Communications Commission has abolished individual radio licensing requirements and associated fees for domestic aircraft radios. AOPA Legislative Action had succeeded in getting federal law changed to permit FCC action on this long-standing issue.

"This is a great victory in AOPA's continuing battle to reduce the cost of flying," said AOPA President Phil Boyer, speaking for AOPA Legislative Action.

Aircraft owners have had to register aircraft radio equipment with the FCC every 10 years. That registration cost as much as $115 per transmitter, although protests from AOPA and the aviation community recently reduced the fee to $75.

AOPA Legislative Action has worked for years to have FCC registration and fees waived for aviation radio transmitters. Last year, Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) introduced a bill to give FCC waiver authority. Working with AOPA Legislative Action, Stupak succeeded in enlisting some 54 cosponsors for the proposal, which was incorporated into the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

Following passage of the act, AOPA petitioned the FCC to drop the aviation radio license requirement. The FCC has now filed a notice of proposed rulemaking removing these licensing requirements. Moreover, the FCC put an interim rule into force immediately, pending final action after May 20, the close of the comment period.

Because of international treaty agreements, however, aircraft flying outside of the United States will still need a radio station license.

"Aviation owes thanks to Representative Stupak for finally getting legislation passed after so long," said Boyer. "And we thank the FCC for acting expeditiously once given the authority."

Did You Know ...

...that a free all-day mountain flying seminar on June 8 will be sponsored by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, the Vermont Aviation Advisory Council, and the Vermont Division of Rail, Air, and Public Transportation? The program begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Comfort Inn near the Barre/Montpelier Airport.

Featured speakers include renowned pilot, researcher, and author Robert Buck, mountain flying expert Kent Eckhart, and ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg.

AOPALA Praises House Passage of Truth in Transportation Budgeting Act

AOPA Legislative Action is praising the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Truth in Transportation Budgeting Act. The bill was sponsored by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-PA) and ranking minority member James L. Oberstar (D-MN).

"The Shuster bill brings honesty back into the federal budget and permits user taxes to be spent for their original purpose — improving our airports, airways, and highways," said AOPA President Phil Boyer, speaking for AOPA Legislative Action. "Trust fund surpluses would no longer be used to mask part of the federal deficit."

Through the years the trust fund has accumulated a surplus, as income has been greater than what Congress has spent on the air transportation infrastructure. Because the trust fund is included in the overall federal budget, unspent user taxes appear "on paper" to offset the deficit, making it seem smaller.

AOPA Legislative Action also urged Congress to pass a budget bill and resume collecting taxes from aviation system users. Authorization to collect aviation user taxes expired on January 1 after Congress and the White House failed to agree on a budget for fiscal year 1996. Since then, the aviation trust fund has been drained at the rate of about one-half billion dollars a month.

FAA'S Procurement and Personnel Reform Applauded

AOPA Legislative Action is applauding the FAA for implementing procurement and personnel reforms. Those reforms were made possible by legislation advocated by AOPA Legislative Action.

The FAA announced reforms to its procurement and personnel systems during an employee rally on March 28. The reforms originated with AOPA Legislative Action's five-point FAA reform proposal first presented to Congress in December 1994.

AOPALA proposed that the FAA be given authority to conduct its own recruiting, simplify its personnel classification and pay system, and design its own compensation system based on rewarding performance, rather than seniority.

The five-point AOPALA proposal also advocated streamlining FAA procurement by replacing rigid rules with guidelines that allow the FAA to buy off-the-shelf equipment, and permitting the FAA to buy routine items outside the government-wide General Services Administration system.

These reforms became part of the Federal Aviation Administration Revitalization Act of 1995, also known as the "Duncan-Lightfoot Bill," which the House passed on March 12.

But Congress, anxious for immediate action on some parts of FAA reform, incorporated the Duncan-Lightfoot personnel and procurement reforms into the 1996 DOT appropriations bill. In it, Congress ordered the FAA to develop new systems by April 1.

Did You Know ...

...that the brochure and fly-in procedures for AOPA Expo '96 in San Jose, California, will be available on June 20? There will be more than 350 exhibits; 70 aircraft on display; and 90 hours of seminars, as well as product demonstrations and social events. Call 800/942-4269 for your copy. Don't miss this premier aviation event, held for the first time in Northern California.

AOPALA Asks Alaska Legislature to Protect Pilots' Rights

AOPA Legislative Action and the Alaska Airmen's Association are supporting two bills in the Alaska legislature that would protect pilots' rights to use state lands and waters.

"About one third of Alaska is owned by the state," said Cindy Jackson, AOPA's director of state legislative affairs, speaking for AOPA Legislative Action, "and the Alaska Division of Natural Resources currently decides how and when pilots, boaters, and other recreational users can use state lands and waters. As the law now stands, access is subject to the whim of each administration, with philosophies that can change frequently and without warning."

The majority of Alaska can be readily reached only by air, and many areas are accessible only by seaplanes landing on lakes and rivers. Alaska has eight times as many pilots and 15 times as many aircraft per capita than the "lower 48" states. Predictable and consistent land-access rules are essential for Alaskan air travel.

AOPA Legislative Action said that state land-use decisions often appear to be made without regard to due process. Alaska Senate Bill 230 and House Bill 447 would reestablish legislative oversight, mandating the involvement of lawmakers in land-access decisions. That would create a system of checks and balances ensuring public input.

Maryland Airport Tax Relief Bill Awaits Governor's Signature

A Maryland bill granting property tax relief to the state's 22 privately owned public-use airports has passed the General Assembly and now awaits Governor Parris Glendening's signature. AOPA Legislative Action joined pilot groups throughout the state in actively supporting the tax relief bill.

The bill expands the definition of what portions of airport property are eligible for exemption from state property tax (to include approach zones and taxiways) and encourages counties to grant similar tax relief. Property tax exemptions also permit an airport to receive funds from the Maryland Assistance to Private Airports program (MAPA).

The Maryland General Assembly, in order to keep local airports operating, established MAPA to help airport owners to rehabilitate, improve, or expand basic airport facilities such as runways, taxiways, parking ramps, and airfield lighting. The assembly also directed that the Maryland Aviation Administration could not give funds to a privately owned public-use airport until the county had granted that airport a property tax exemption.

Customs Reform: Stymied by Labor Concerns?

For more than four years AOPA Legislative Action has been working with the U.S. Customs Service headquarters staff on the General Aviation Telephonic Entry (GATE) program, a system to simplify and expedite Customs processing of arriving general aviation flights. Customs' Washington staff seems committed to implementing the program, according to AOPA Legislative Action, and USCS Commissioner George Weise earlier this year established a schedule indicating the GATE program would be implemented in April 1996.

Recently, however, AOPA Legislative Action was informed that the start date was again uncertain.

Officially, the delay in implementing the program is caused by continuing pressure from Customs inspectors in the field who strongly oppose the GATE program, arguing that general aviation aircraft pose a drug smuggling risk — even along the U.S.-Canadian border. But it has been reported that the delay is actually the result of labor union concerns regarding possible loss of overtime pay or employee transfers to southern border installations.

Customs' own numbers indicate that in 1995 Customs inspected 150,000 private aircraft. Out of those inspections, only 22 enforcement actions were taken by USCS. And of those 22, only two resulted in criminal prosecutions, based on cases arising along the southwestern border. Clearly, AOPALA notes, Customs' own numbers demonstrate that general aviation aircraft are not the problem. AOPALA suggests that, in these trying budget times, implementation of GATE would allow Customs to allocate its resources to the real problem areas.

AOPALA is continuing to pursue remedies to get the GATE program back on track.

ASF Receives Grants From Michigan, Ford Motor Company

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation has received two $10,000 grants, one from the Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics and one from Ford Motor Company, to conduct aviation safety seminars in Michigan.

"These two grants will significantly increase the number of safety seminars available to Michigan pilots," said ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg. "Donations of this type help 'leverage' our resources, enabling ASF to get vital safety education to a much larger number of pilots."

ASF will use the grants to conduct both a spring and fall seminar series in Michigan. "Safe Navigation with GPS" was scheduled for late May at five different locations.

This year marks the first grant to ASF from the Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics. Under the direction of Phil Roberts, Ford's director of corporate travel, Ford Motor Company has given ASF three grants in the past four years. An active pilot and AOPA member, Roberts is also a member of the Air Safety Foundation's Hat-In-The-Ring Society for individuals who have made substantial contributions to ASF.

AOPA Urges Regional Support for Ohio's Lost Nation Airport

AOPA is urging Lake County, Ohio, communities to help fund Lost Nation Airport. Currently this significant general aviation airport, located on the shore of Lake Erie northeast of Cleveland, is funded — with some difficulty — solely by the city of Willoughby, Ohio.

"The surrounding communities richly benefit from Lost Nation Airport," said Bill Dunn, AOPA's vice president for regional affairs. "AOPA recommends that these communities join with the city of Willoughby in funding this valuable regional asset."

Willoughby has operated the airport since purchasing it from Case Western Reserve University in 1986. In recent years, however, airport revenues have covered only about half of the airport's operating costs. The city, recognizing that surrounding communities also realize economic benefits from Lost Nation Airport, has sought regional financing to help operate the facility.

Dunn said that the airport brings considerable outside revenue into the community. According to a State of Ohio study, Lost Nation Airport generates more than $26 million annually in regional economic activity. Included in that figure is $14 million in wages paid to 745 people working in aviation and related industries nearby.

AOPA Online has scheduled the following conferences for June:

• June 4 — Phil Boyer: "CFIs: Key to the Future"
• June 11 — Doug Helton: "AOPA Fly-in Procedures"
• June 18 — John Filhiol, head of the Aviation Department at Northeast Louisiana University, a leading university program specializing in agricultural application: "Careers in Crop Dusting"
• June 25 — Rod Machado, aviation educator and humorist: "Why I Can't Cry and Fly at the Same Time"

All conferences take place in Conference Room 1 of the AOPA Forum on CompuServe and run from 9 to 10 p.m. Eastern time.

Hero Controller Visits AOPA Headquarters

If you had just received accolades from the FAA administrator and top brass at ceremonies in Washington, D.C., how would you spend your afternoon?

Hero FAA Air Traffic Control Specialist David Littlefield, an AOPA member and CFI, called AOPA March 25 and asked to visit his association's headquarters.

"Any AOPA member can walk in any time during business hours, tour the building, and meet our top management," said AOPA President Phil Boyer, "but this was one member we were especially happy to have drop by."

Littlefield, a tower controller at Renton, Washington, made national news in late March after he talked down a nonpilot passenger whose seaplane pilot collapsed and died at the controls over Seattle's Lake Washington.

Littlefield, with the assistance of Renton controllers Cheryl Hoyt and Dave Shuttlerow, talked the passenger down — although the Cessna 206 on floats hit the Lake Washington surface once, ballooned up in a nose-high attitude, then dove towards the Renton runway.

Littlefield was greeted at AOPA's front door by a heartfelt round of applause from the association's staff. Quite the extemporaneous speaker, Littlefield then launched into an entertaining 15-minute play-by-play account of the incident.

AOPA officials made a special point of having Littlefield visit with AOPA's Aviation Services and Member Services staffs, which help pilots calling on the association's toll-free 800 lines.

"We figured this guy really knows how to talk somebody through a problem, so we put our experts together with this remarkable FAA controller to compare notes," quipped Boyer.

Littlefield has been an AOPA member since 1979.

AOPA Helps Angel Flight Limit Damage From TV Movie

Pilots hate Hollywood's dramatization of aviation as an accident waiting to happen, so AOPA rushed to help California's Angel Flight volunteer medical flying organization when an independent TV producer titled its ABC Monday Movie production Angel Flight Down, even though this "based on a true story" movie had nothing to do with Angel Flight-type operations.

Although it was too late to stop or retitle the movie, AOPA helped Angel Flight lawyers reach the appropriate ABC officials in New York. ABC agreed to a disclaimer helping to preserve Angel Flight's good name and giving positive recognition to this Air Care Alliance member that provides free air transportation to needy patients. There are 11 Angel Flight organizations around the nation.

Alamo Joins AOPA Certified; Members Save 20 Percent

AOPA members can now save up to 20 percent off standard rental rates on economy through full-size cars from Alamo Rent-A-Car. Alamo has also extended AOPA members a five-percent discount on all premium and luxury size rental cars. Alamo joins Hertz and Avis as an AOPA Certified rental car provider.

"Alamo adds another option for those taking advantage of car rental discounts as one of the many benefits of AOPA membership," said Andrew Horelick, AOPA's senior vice president for products and services. "And this is a great new benefit for younger pilots, because Alamo will rent to members under the age of 25."

Alamo replaced Budget car rental.

Members can find Alamo at more than 115 strategic U.S. locations along with 65 locations in Europe. Alamo's growing fleet includes more than 150,000 cars.

As with all AOPA Certified products and services, every time a member uses the AOPA car rental discount from Alamo, Avis, or Hertz, revenue is returned to AOPA — at no additional cost to the member. That helps keep dues low and provides additional support for programs such as AOPA Project Pilot. AOPA members' use of rental car discounts not only cuts their cost of travel, but last year it also contributed nearly half a million dollars to AOPA's programs for general aviation.

AOPA members can reserve an Alamo rental car through their travel agent, through the Internet at http://www.goalamo.com, or by calling 800/354-2322. Members should request I.D. #434861 and Plan Code JE.

AOPA Travelers Club Offers $50 Off Airfares

New member savings are now available from the AOPA Travelers Club. AOPA members can now save up to $50 on airfare and still get the guaranteed lowest available airfare. The AOPA Travelers Club has entered into an agreement with a major airline for members to receive airfare discounts, including a $10 discount on fares from $75 to $149; $25 discount on fares from $150 to $299; and $50 discount on fares of $300 or more.

Call 800/888-AOPA for details and reservations. Travel is for round-trip purchases within the contiguous 48 states. Restrictions and blackout dates apply. Discount is applied at the time of ticketing. Space and discount are subject to availability at time of booking.

23RD Annual Speculator Seaplane Fly-In to Feature New Safety Information, Seminars

The twenty-third Annual Seaplane Pilots Association/FAA Safety Seminar Fly-In has been scheduled for June 14 to 16 on Lake Pleasant at Camp-of-the-Woods in Speculator, New York. Land planes may use the airport at Piseco, New York; shuttle buses will transport attendees 12 miles to Lake Pleasant.

"Pilots won't want to miss one of the most enjoyable aviation weekends of the year," said SPA President Jay (J.J.) Frey.

Early arrivals may attend a Wilderness First Aid Course on Thursday, June 13. The fly-in officially begins on Friday afternoon with seminars on flying and maintaining seaplanes. Keynote speaker Benjamin Berman, NTSB air safety investigator, will present the results of a 10-year study of seaplane safety during the Saturday program.

Accommodation information is available from the Speculator/Lake Pleasant/Piseco and Morehouse Area Chamber of Commerce (518/548-4521) or Camp-of-the-Woods (518/548-4311).