... is up and running in Oshkosh, WI this week as some 10,000-plus aircraft and an estimated 600,000 attendees fill the grounds at Wittman Regional Airport. Associate editor Brad McAllister reports that Tuesday at AirVenture the exhibit halls were “packed full”. Having been to some 20 annual EAA shows since 1987, I’ve constantly been impressed with how the event has grown geometrically through the years and still maintained an air of commonality. Spectators, general aviation pilots, and high-time commercial pilots have a common appreciation for AirVenture.
Of course, our friends at USA Today this week made a point of highlighting the negative. Says the newspaper, “Amid the festive atmosphere of thousands of pilots camping beneath their planes and the daily acrobatic displays, there is another side to the show. From 2000 through last year, an average of nearly six aircraft at the air show, or headed to or from the event, were involved in accidents or incidents, according to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) case files. In that time, 30 people died in accidents associated with the show, an average of three a year.” All true enough. Yet, anyone who attends the show – particularly when the aircraft first begin arriving, landing up to three at a time – walks away impressed at how safe this event actually is.
FAA used the setting to highlight its ongoing safety efforts with general aviation. DHS and TSA were on hand to unveil a new "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign, along with a streamlined system for vetting passengers and crew on general aviation aircraft entering and exiting the U.S. through a single, department-wide process.
For many in the GA community, an EAA highlight may be a general aviation coalition forum held this week with the Environmental Protection Agency, which has called on the industry to come up with a replacement for 100LL avgas. According to EAA, the forum “produced this overarching message: Aircraft owners and operators shouldn't panic about the future lack of a 100LL replacement just yet, but they reiterated that the challenge of finding an avgas replacement is complex and won't be solved quickly.”
EPA, meanwhile, told the coalition that the agency is prepared to work with the industry and FAA to find an alternative fuel. In a letter from Margo Tsirigotis Oge, director of the EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, the agency told the coalition, "EPA has not established or proposed any date by which lead emissions from aircraft operating on leaded avgas would need to be reduced. In fact EPA does not have authority to control aviation fuels." EPA, she noted, is responsible for determining which chemical or physical properties of a fuel or fuel additive endangers the public health. However, only the FAA has the authority to regulate which fuels aircraft may burn.
Comments EAA chair/president Tom Poberezny, "We see EPA's announcement as a positive step in finding a safe, viable alternative to 100LL. It reaffirms there is no immediate threat to the availability of 100LL as we pursue a long-term solution to identify and transition to an unleaded fuel."
***
Final note: Last week’s blog suggested that there might actually be movement on Capitol Hill this week on long-term FAA reauthorization. Unless something miraculous happens by Friday, it now appears we’re headed for another continuing resolution to keep the system running. So much for Congress doing the right thing.
Thanks for reading. jfi
