§44745 Don Young Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative

Summary

The FAA must rename its Alaska safety program the Don Young Alaska Aviation Safety Initiative and run it to make flying safer in Alaska and in certain U.S. territories. The program must work with pilots, airlines, airports, and governments to cut fatal aircraft accidents in Alaska and covered locations by 90 percent from 2019 to 2033. It also must aim to stop all fatal accidents by air carriers operating under part 135 of the federal rules by January 1, 2033. The Regional Administrator for Alaska will be the Initiative Director and will report directly to the FAA Administrator. The Director must coordinate across FAA offices, keep building on prior Alaska safety reports, and send a public report each year starting one year after enactment that shows how the FAA budget supports the goals and includes stakeholder comments. The FAA must install and run automated weather systems at each covered airport by December 31, 2030 to the greatest extent practicable, and may waive benefit‑cost tests to do so. The FAA must set reliability and data rules, make a reliability and restoration plan within 2 years of enactment, treat telecom failures as urgent as equipment failures, and within 18 months improve maintenance and spare‑parts storage for FAA weather systems and update outage reporting. The FAA must deploy visual weather observation systems within 3 years and allow operators to use them for certain local weather reports. The Director must assess and accept applications for weather cameras and presume camera installs at covered airports are cost‑beneficial unless there is clear evidence otherwise. The FAA must also push for ADS‑B Out on part 135 aircraft and ensure ADS‑B coverage at 5,000 feet AGL across Alaska and covered locations by December 31, 2030, waiving benefit‑cost tests for needed equipment and transmitters. Funding: for fiscal years 2025–2028 the FAA may use certain apportionments under section 47114 for the Initiative and airport sponsors may use those apportionments for Initiative work, and up to $25,000,000 per year from sections 106(k) and 48101 is authorized for FY2025–2028. Definitions: covered airport = an Alaska or covered‑location airport in the national airport plan; covered automated weather system = a weather reporting system that lets a pilot begin an instrument approach; covered locations = Hawaii, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.