Three Years Later: Remembering the Gaithersburg Plane Crash and Rescue Mission

National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that The
Air Care Alliance:

Require voluntary pilot organizations to verify pilot
currency before every flight. (A-10-102)

Require that voluntary pilot organizations inform
passengers, at the time of inquiry about a flight, that the
charitable medical flight would not be conducted under the
same standards that apply to a commercial flight (such as
under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 or Part 135).
(A-10-103)

In conjunction with your affiliate organizations and other
charitable medical transport organizations, develop,
disseminate, and require all voluntary pilot organizations
to implement written safety guidance, best practices, and
training material for volunteer pilots who operate
charitable patient transport flights under 14 Code of
Federal Regulations Part 91. The information should address,
at a minimum, aeronautical decision-making; proper preflight
planning; pilot qualification, training, and currency; and
self-induced pressure. (A-10-104)