Abstract
The Federal Aviation Administration estimates there are about 2,100 commercial air tour operators with 4,400 aircraft doing business in the United States. Between 1993 and 2000 there were 128 sightseeing accidents resulting in 110 fatalities nationwide. Air tours frequently fly in and out of rural airports. Unlike major air carriers, air tour operators are not required by law to develop plans for dealing with fatal accidents and many do not have one. When a tour operator without advance planning and preparation experiences a fatal crash, the result is often chaos. This article describes how rural chapters of the American Red Cross can work with air tour operators and local airports to develop plans incorporating the practices required of major airlines by the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996.
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