01-12773. Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a list of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at [phone]. Send written comments to CDC, Desk Officer; Human Resources and Housing Branch, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235; Washington, DC 20503. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

Alaska Air Carrier Operator and Pilot Survey—NEW—National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is to promote safety and health at work for all people through research and prevention.

There is evidence that a disproportionate number of all U.S. aircraft crashes occur in Alaska. Between 1990-1998 there were 823 commuter and air taxi crashes in the U.S., of which 229 (28 percent) were fatal, resulting in 653 deaths. Alaska accounted for 304 (37 percent) of the total crashes, 49 of which were fatal (21 percent of the U.S. fatal crashes), resulting in 131 deaths (20 percent of all U.S. deaths) (NTSB Aviation Accident Database, 1999). Aviation crashes are now the leading cause of occupational fatalities in Alaska.

To address this compelling occupational issue in Alaska, Congress supported implementation of a federal initiative to reduce aviation-related injuries and fatalities. The initiative is a three-year commitment led by a partnership of four federal agencies who share an interest in promoting aviation safety and preventing aircraft crashes—the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), National Weather Service (NWS), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The purpose of this joint initiative is to reduce the number of aircraft crashes and deaths, and promote aviation safety within the air transportation industry in Alaska.

This initiative complements another federal/industry initiative to reduce aviation fatalities—the Capstone Program. The Capstone Program, currently implemented in the Bethel, Alaska area includes installation of improved avionics in aircraft used in FAR part 135 operations, an improved ground infrastructure for weather information, data link communications and Flight Information Services, and the development of new GIS-based non-precision instruction approaches at remote airports.

As part of these initiatives, air carrier operators and pilots will be surveyed to obtain information on what they perceive are the risks and hazards contributing to aircraft accidents in Alaska, their opinion about current safety programs, and what they think could be done to improve aviation safety. This information will be analyzed to identify common risk factors, compare them to risk factors identified from analysis of accident reports and published literature, and assess the effectiveness of current and new potential safety interventions. These findings will be useful to Alaska's air transportation industry for trend information to evaluate interventions.

To reduce the total respondent burden and increase efficiency in data collection, we are coordinating and combining the information gathering process for both the joint initiative and a safety study of the Capstone initiative into one effort. The joint initiative will conduct two statewide surveys: Approximately 400 participants in the air carrier operator survey and 500 participants in the pilot survey. The Capstone safety study will add questions to both surveys for respondents in the implementation area, and in addition will continue to survey pilots using Capstone equipment for the duration of that program (through fall 2002). Follow up surveys to assess the effectiveness of the implementation measures would re-survey approximately half of the original statewide sample: about 200 air carrier operators and 250 pilots.

We will use the results of the initial statewide surveys to (1) recommend ways to improve air transportation safety; (2) identify measures to put the recommendations into effect; and (3) guide the ongoing research. Follow up surveys will assess the effectiveness of the program and identify potential improvements. We will use the results of the Capstone study surveys to assess the effectiveness of that program and to recommend improvements. The information can be obtained only from the respondents, as it requests information on skills, knowledge, attitudes, and business practices for which no other source is available. The total annual burden for this collection is 670 hours.

Respondents	Number of respondents	Number of responses per respondent	Avg. burden per response (in hrs.)
Operators Survey	200	1	30/60
Capstone Questions for Capstone area Operators	30 (subset of 200)	1	15/60
Pilot Survey	400	1	30/60
Capstone Questions for Capstone area Pilots	50 (subset of 400)	1	15/60
Capstone Pilots not in AIASI Survey	100	1	30/60
Follow-up survey of Operators	200	1	30/60
Follow-up survey of Pilots	400	1	60

Dated: May 10, 2001.

Nancy E. Cheal,

Acting Associate Direct for Policy Planning, and Evaluation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).