The Cessna 208 Caravan series aircraft are critical vehicles in the fleet portfolios of many small air cargo carriers.

Faced with the prospect that federal regulators may ground the Cessna during most wintry weather conditions, the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA) is working to keep the plane in the air.

After a preliminary meeting with Cessna executives and engineers, including Cessna CEO Jack Pelton, Cessna and RACCA have formed a working group to improve the operating performance of the Cessna 208 in icing conditions, said RACCA president Stan Bernstein.

Complete with a charter outlining their goals and structure, a RACCA delegation of Cessna users will meet with Cessna engineers and test pilots on March 21 in Wichita for the first of potentially many meetings to design a new pilot training program and to determine if there are technical fixes needed for the aircraft.

The end result of the meeting may be a special federal aviation rule (FAR) mandating a specific pilot training program for those operators using the plane in winter icing conditions, Bernstein told Regional Aviation News.

RACCA members fly 350 single turbine engine, high-wing Caravans every night delivering packages for FedEx, UPS and DHL. Some 70 percent of these planes are flown on routes subject to icing conditions in the winter. A grounding order would cause chaos and confusion in the industry as carriers scramble to find planes that could replace the Cessna 208s. Those overnight packages just might not be delivered overnight, Bernstein noted.

In January, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) drew up a set of recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that included the suggestion that the Cessna 208 not be flown in conditions of moderate or worse icing. The recommendations were triggered by fatal crashes in Canada and Russia. However, the icing problems with the Cessna 208 are not new. Over the last 15 years, the NTSB said at least nine accidents have involved icing.

The FAA in January issued an aircraft directive ordering operators to install a handhold on the plane so the pilots can inspect the wings just before takeoff (RAN, Jan. 23). RACCA had opposed the recommendations, feeling the handle would not be effective.

Bernstein said the joint RACCA-Cessna committee has been given marching orders to draft a set of recommendations that can be reviewed at RACCA's spring membership meeting on June 6, also in Wichita. "Our goal will be to adopt them at that meeting," he noted.

Admitting it is an aggressive timetable, Bernstein said any training program changes would be "fine tuned" in June so that all the RACCA pilots can be trained by the beginning of the next icing season. "The timing is tight, but we think we can meet it," he added.

Cessna already has a winter training program for pilots, but it was developed with minimal input from Cessna operators. "We are now providing that input to improve the program," Bernstein said.

In the working group, chief pilots, safety directors and training directors from five members with large Cessna fleets will represent RACCA. The carriers participating in the meeting include Empire Airlines, CSA, Suburban Air Freight, Martinaire and West Air.

Bernstein and other RACCA officers met last week with the FAA in Washington to discuss the Cessna situation. The delegation raised the prospect of asking the FAA to issue a special FAR. The request was unusual in that most rules are suggested and crafted by the agency and are not the result of a grass-roots effort.

The FAA is considering a request from both Cessna and RACCA to participate in the working group. "There are a couple of key people at the FAA that could help resolve the issue and make some headway. The more we include the FAA, the more they become part of the solution," Bernstein noted.

Based on what the group recommends in June, he said, the FAA will consider taking that recommendation and transforming it into a special FAR. It can take three to four months for the agency to adopt a special FAR.

The trade group wants a special FAR outlining mandatory pilot training for icing conditions to protect its operators in the event of a future Cessna 208 crash due to icing. Bernstein said the group is fearful that should there be a crash in the future by an untrained pilot, then the regulators might indeed ground the plane completely. With the completion of any mandated training, the focus of the blame could shift from the pilot to the aircraft.

>>Contact: Stan Bernstein, RACCA, (508) 778-7788.<<