[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28166-28167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-12773]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30 DAY-31-01]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at (404) 639-7090. Send written 
comments to CDC, Desk Officer; Human Resources and Housing Branch, New 
Executive Office Building, Room 10235; Washington, DC 20503. Written 
comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Alaska Air Carrier Operator and Pilot Survey--NEW--National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The mission of the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is to promote safety and 
health at work for all people through research and prevention.
    There is evidence that a disproportionate number of all U.S.

[[Page 28167]]

aircraft crashes occur in Alaska. Between 1990-1998 there were 823 
commuter and air taxi crashes in the U.S., of which 229 (28 percent) 
were fatal, resulting in 653 deaths. Alaska accounted for 304 (37 
percent) of the total crashes, 49 of which were fatal (21 percent of 
the U.S. fatal crashes), resulting in 131 deaths (20 percent of all 
U.S. deaths) (NTSB Aviation Accident Database, 1999). Aviation crashes 
are now the leading cause of occupational fatalities in Alaska.
    To address this compelling occupational issue in Alaska, Congress 
supported implementation of a federal initiative to reduce aviation-
related injuries and fatalities. The initiative is a three-year 
commitment led by a partnership of four federal agencies who share an 
interest in promoting aviation safety and preventing aircraft crashes--
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Transportation 
Safety Board (NTSB), National Weather Service (NWS), and the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The purpose of 
this joint initiative is to reduce the number of aircraft crashes and 
deaths, and promote aviation safety within the air transportation 
industry in Alaska.
    This initiative complements another federal/industry initiative to 
reduce aviation fatalities--the Capstone Program. The Capstone Program, 
currently implemented in the Bethel, Alaska area includes installation 
of improved avionics in aircraft used in FAR part 135 operations, an 
improved ground infrastructure for weather information, data link 
communications and Flight Information Services, and the development of 
new GIS-based non-precision instruction approaches at remote airports.
    As part of these initiatives, air carrier operators and pilots will 
be surveyed to obtain information on what they perceive are the risks 
and hazards contributing to aircraft accidents in Alaska, their opinion 
about current safety programs, and what they think could be done to 
improve aviation safety. This information will be analyzed to identify 
common risk factors, compare them to risk factors identified from 
analysis of accident reports and published literature, and assess the 
effectiveness of current and new potential safety interventions. These 
findings will be useful to Alaska's air transportation industry for 
trend information to evaluate interventions.
    To reduce the total respondent burden and increase efficiency in 
data collection, we are coordinating and combining the information 
gathering process for both the joint initiative and a safety study of 
the Capstone initiative into one effort. The joint initiative will 
conduct two statewide surveys: Approximately 400 participants in the 
air carrier operator survey and 500 participants in the pilot survey. 
The Capstone safety study will add questions to both surveys for 
respondents in the implementation area, and in addition will continue 
to survey pilots using Capstone equipment for the duration of that 
program (through fall 2002). Follow up surveys to assess the 
effectiveness of the implementation measures would re-survey 
approximately half of the original statewide sample: about 200 air 
carrier operators and 250 pilots.
    We will use the results of the initial statewide surveys to (1) 
recommend ways to improve air transportation safety; (2) identify 
measures to put the recommendations into effect; and (3) guide the 
ongoing research. Follow up surveys will assess the effectiveness of 
the program and identify potential improvements. We will use the 
results of the Capstone study surveys to assess the effectiveness of 
that program and to recommend improvements. The information can be 
obtained only from the respondents, as it requests information on 
skills, knowledge, attitudes, and business practices for which no other 
source is available. The total annual burden for this collection is 670 
hours.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Number of   Avg. burden
                                  Number of      responses       per
         Respondents             respondents        per        response
                                                 respondent   (in hrs.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operators Survey.............  200............            1        30/60
Capstone Questions for         30 (subset of              1        15/60
 Capstone area Operators.       200).
Pilot Survey.................  400............            1        30/60
Capstone Questions for         50 (subset of              1        15/60
 Capstone area Pilots.          400).
Capstone Pilots not in AIASI   100............            1        30/60
 Survey.
Follow-up survey of Operators  200............            1        30/60
Follow-up survey of Pilots...  400............            1           60
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    Dated: May 10, 2001.
Nancy E. Cheal,
Acting Associate Direct for Policy Planning, and Evaluation, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
[FR Doc. 01-12773 Filed 5-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P