FAA investigating Alaska Flight Service Stations for allegations of misconduct

FAA investigating Alaska Flight Service Stations for allegations of misconduct

Seven stations closed pending investigation

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Seven Flight Service Stations (FSS) across Alaska are currently closed, as the FAA investigates allegations of employee misconduct at those stations.

The staff at FSS in Barrow, Northway, Deadhorse, Palmer, Talkeetna, Nome, and Kotzebue are on administrative leave, according to the FAA. In the time while these FSS are unmanned, the Fairbanks station is assuming coverage for Deadhorse, Barrow, Nome and Northway, while Kenai is assuming coverage for Palmer and Talkeetna. A statement from the FAA said they are currently investigating the allegations.

“The FAA takes these allegations very seriously and is coordinating with the Office of Inspector General to investigate to the fullest extent to protect taxpayer money and the integrity of the FAA,” the statement read.

For pilots, FSS serve as resources both prior to the flight and during. Usual services include flight plan management, preflight briefings, in-flight support, emergency services, navigation aid monitoring, and communication support, which are still available at remote locations.

“Weather information, information about the locations we may be flying to, what we call notices to airmen, which is runway conditions, infrastructure, whether it’s all working or not, and what may not be working, gives us a heads up before we strike out and fly across Alaska,” said Adam White, Government Affairs Advocate for the Alaska Airmen’s Association.

Several organizations, including the Alaska Airmen’s Association and the Alaska Air Carriers Association have reached out to the FAA about the closures, requesting they be reopened as soon as possible. White said the FAA has kept an open channel of communications through this process.

Members of the Alaska Congressional delegation have also been working with the Department of Transportation to reopen the stations.

“Senator Murkowski and her office are actively engaged with the FAA regarding this issue and are pressing the agency to address this staffing shortage as quickly as possible,” Sen. Murkowski’s office said in a statement.

Additionally, a spokesperson for Murkowski’s office said she is scheduled to meet with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy next week.

During flights, FSS’s are able to give up to the minute information to pilots, which is especially helpful in remote areas, White said.

“We’re able to talk to them over some remote communication outlets scattered across the state. And we can get updates on weather conditions,” White said. “We can follow pilot reports, which help the pilots that are flying back behind us, that are maybe coming in the same area, give them a heads up as to what conditions we’re actually encountering.”

The stations don’t just serve pilots either, providing information to the national weather service and maintaining weather cameras.

“When we’re able to basically give a report in the air as to what we’re encountering in real time and that helps them modify their forecast, amend predictions, and other things along those ways to get better products,” White said. “Not just for aviation, but for the public as well.”

In this period of closures, White said the biggest concern is that pilots will miss out on unique information that isn’t readily available from a remote location.

“They also help with just some general local knowledge, some information about other aircraft that are in the area, and be that source of local knowledge that’s very important for us here in Alaska.”

In the Lower 48, FSS are managed by a private contractor, but the stations in Alaska remain staffed by the FAA. In winter months, they are generally remoted to Fairbanks, or the Kenai airport, White says.

“For them to be remoted now in the summer is not a huge — it is a problem, it is an issue — but it’s not such a huge disruption that we’re not able to still accomplish what we need to get done,” White said. “We do rely on that local input and that local knowledge when those flight service specialists are in those remote locations.”

Right now, White says that with FSS being remotely operated, wait times for pilots have been extended.

“It’s almost like when you call customer service for something and you’re number 14 in line. And, you know, so you’ll be answered in the call, in the order the call was received,” White said. “It’s basically the same concept when we’re talking to flight service on the radio.”

Though there is not a pressing risk of unsafe practices.

“Safety is not going to be allowed to be compromised,” White said. “And if there is any hint that safety is being at risk, the FAA has committed, and I trust them when they say this, that they’re going to do everything, everything they can, to prevent that from occurring.”

From what White understands, the misconduct allegations relate to timecards and other “office-related bookkeeping.” Whatever the case, he hopes the staff can return soon, especially since these positions are often hard to fill.

“You can’t just go out and hire off the street to refill these positions,” White said. “The folks that work in these positions have a lot of specific and very unique training and certification levels that they have to acquire, to be able to fill these positions.”

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