Most Wanted Transportation Improvement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Most Wanted Transportation Improvement - Essay Example Board saw the need to alert the public about the different safety regulations which have to be imposed and which have to be complied with in the transportation sector. The safety of Emergency Medical Services flights, more particularly the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) flights were recently added to the list. The NTSB accurately pointed out that the mission of the EMS is to save lives; therefore, operating an EMS flight in an unsafe environment â€Å"just makes no sense† (Rosenker, as quoted by Air Safety Week, 2008). This most wanted improvement identified by the NTSB involves the â€Å"conduct of flights with medical personnel on board in accordance with commuter aircraft regulations† (NTSB, 2009). This improvement is also being described in terms of developing and implementing flight risk evaluation programs; requiring formalized dispatch and flight-following procedures plus up-to-date weather information; and installing terrain awareness and warning systems on aircrafts (NTSB, 2009). In 2006, the NTSB adopted the NTSB Special Investigation Report where they sought out to establish the importance of the EMS and of guaranteeing the safety of these flights. This report assessed EMS accidents from January 2002 to January 2005 and they were able to uncover about 55 EMS accidents during said time with 29 of these accidents preventable through corrective measures (SafeMedFlight, n.d). Most of these flights involved helicopters deployed by the EMS where, most recent figures registered a total of 35 casualties. The preventable nature of these accidents is an important indicator of the need to implement changes and improvements in EMS flights. The report above prompted the NTSB to seek the assistance of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in order for the latter to adopt measures in order to improve the safety of EMS flights. The NTSB was able to establish, during its investigation and assessments, that there seem to be less stringent