2015 Most Wanted List ofTransportation Safety Improvements:An Overview

Maryland Regional Aviation Conference – June 6, 2015Ocean City, Maryland

Thomas E. Zoeller

Managing Director

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2015 Most Wanted List

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Overview

• Critical changes needed in all modes to reduce accidents and save lives

• Awareness and dialogue among industry, elected officials, public

• Board-approved

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History

• First developed in 1990 – just top 10 recommendations

• Shaped by Board to encompass broader safety issue areas

• Guided annually by Board Order

• Covered more than 30 areas over 15 years

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2015 MWL Areas

• Distraction

• Impairment

• Helicopters

• Positive Train Control

• Rail Tank Cars

• Trucking

• Mass Transit

• GA Loss of Control

• Medical Fitness

• Procedural Compliance

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End Substance Impairment in Transportation

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End Substance Impairment in Transportation

• Since 2000, 160,000 motor vehicle deaths

• Growing safety problem in aviation

• NTSB investigations consistently find causal in accidents across modes

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Enhance Public Helicopter Safety

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Enhance Public Helicopter Safety

• NTSB investigated more than 130 public helicopter accidents since 2004

• Critical emergency services, medical, police, rescue…

• Not generally covered by FAA safety regs – operator responsibility

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Implement Positive Train Control in 2015

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Implement Positive Train Control in 2015

• Can stop many rail accidents before they happen

• Mandated by Congress by 2015 after Chatsworth

• PTC systems still not implemented nationwide as required

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Improve Rail Tank Car Safety

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Improve Rail Tank Car Safety

• National energy needs have increased tank car flammable liquid transport exponentially

• Most commonly used DOT-111 model is not up to the task

• NTSB has investigated numerous accidents: ruptures, spills causing fires, explosions, environmental damage

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Strengthen Commercial Trucking Safety

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Strengthen Commercial Trucking Safety

• In 2012 alone – 4,000 deaths, 100,000 injuries

• NTSB has long called on regulators to improve operator, driver, and vehicle oversight

• Multifaceted issue involving vehicles, companies, drivers, and oversight agencies

• Collaborative effort

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Make Mass Transit Safer

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Make Mass Transit Safer

• Mass transit is growing – faster than population and highway travel

• Must constantly be monitored and improved for safety

• Catch small problems before they become big ones, and provide extra layers of protection against disasters

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Prevent Loss of Control in General Aviation

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Prevent Loss of Control in General Aviation

• GA Pilots and passengers die at alarming rates while commercial aviation accidents are rare

• From 2001 to 2011, over 40% of fixed wing GA fatal accidents caused by pilots’ loss of control

• GA pilot proficiency requirements are less rigorous than airline pilots

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Require Medical Fitness for Duty

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Require Medical Fitness for Duty

• Some pilots, vessel and train operators, and drivers are not medically fit to perform safely

• Certification processes for safety-critical personnel vary widely across modes of transportation

• NTSB has investigated numerous accidents – vehicle operator medical condition contributed to cause of crash

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Strengthen Procedural Compliance

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Strengthen Procedural Compliance

• Crews not complying with air carriers’ standard operating procedures: flying stabilized approaches, making required callouts, maintaining sterile cockpits, and monitoring critical flight parameters

• Sometimes procedures themselves aren’t good enough and crew training is inadequate

• Management and pilots must put safety first and collaborate on creating a safety culture of compliance

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Additional Advocacy Activities

• Preliminary insight – 2016 MWL

• Upcoming NTSB events

• Areas of potential interest

• Opportunities for collaboration

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• For more information…

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