From: Regional Director, Region 2

Subject: Region 2 Aviation Review, Preflight Briefings, Hazard Maps, and Accident Prevention Plans

The Required Regional Aviation Review was conducted last week with largely favorable results. Several areas where improvement was suggested are regarding the above subject items. Some of you may recall that in the 1980's, a contract plane ran into a power line on Sequoyah NWR killing a Service employee. Last Friday, two Service employees were killed when a contract pilot flew into a power line on the Columbia River in Washington. This is a reminder that everyone needs to be constantly vigilant of the hazards of low-level flying, and that constant attention must be paid to these hazards throughout any flight.

Therefore, effective immediately, no flight will be undertaken by any employee or volunteer of this Region unless a preflight briefing occurs, which includes a discussion and specific locations of hazards to flying such as power lines, towers, surveying up blind canyons, and weather conditions (i.e., fog, wind, approaching weather systems). If any employee of this Region feels that safety precautions have not been met on a flight that they are about to undertake, whether with contract or Service pilots, then they cannot board that particular aircraft. If a pilot says that he/she is not comfortable doing a particular maneuver during a flight, DO NOT force the issue. Many close calls have occurred by pilots trying to please the people with whom they are flying. Remember, NOTHING is more important than the safety and security of our people.

All stations are thus required to update the hazard maps for their area of responsibility. A hazard map may simply be a map of a refuge, or a topographic map of a particular area, with flight hazards highlighted. The due date for the update of these maps is January 1, 1999. Copies of these maps will then become an integral part of every preflight briefing. Attached to this memorandum is a copy of an Aviation Mishap Response Plan. This form is also available on the OAS web page at http://www.oas.gov/. Move the cursor to Headquarters and click in succeeding order on Aviation Safety, Library/Publications, Aviation Mishap Response Plan.

These Aviation Mishap Response Plans should be completed by January 1, 1999. They will also become an integral part of every preflight briefing. Upon completion of these two reports, please submit copies to the Regional Aviation Manager, Jim Bredy in Albuquerque.

Upon initial entry into the OAS web page, there is a box titled "Submit Safecom." If you have any report on any issue that you feel comprises aviation safety in any way, please do not hesitate to click on this box. It provides a quick and immediate way of reporting any aviation safety issue.

If there are any questions about any of these issues, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail the Regional Aviation Manager, Jim Bredy at (505) 248-6630 or Jim Bredy at Jim_Bredy@fws.gov .