As the agricultural aviation industry moves from its first century into its second, it faces a number of challenges, including additional regulations, rising insurance costs, stiffer pesticide label language, and competition from technological advances in other facets of agriculture.
To meet these challenges, the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) is launching its Certified-Professional Aerial Applicator Safety Steward (C-PAASS) program in 2023.
The voluntary program will provide continuing education to ag pilots, while also demonstrating their professional nature to customers, regulators, and the public, according to association officials.
A recent NAAA survey revealed that 72% of NAAA members are interested in obtaining professional aerial application certification.
There will be four requirements for an ag pilot to earn their C-PAASS designation during the program’s launch year:
- Membership in NAAA
- Annual membership in a state or regional agricultural aviation association
- Annual PAASS (Professional Aerial Applicators’ Support System) attendance
- Biennial Operation S.A.F.E. (Self-regulating Application and Flight Efficiency) participation
These initial certification requirements are based on education and professional opportunities already available to all ag aviators, association officials said.
The PAASS Program, from the National Agricultural Aviation Research and Education Foundation (NAAREF), has a proven record of reducing accidents, officials noted. Since its debut in 1998, the ag aviation accident rate (number of accidents per 100,000 hours flown) has dropped by nearly 26%, and the fatal accident rate has dropped by 10%.
This marked reduction in accidents happened with fewer than half, or 47%, of the agricultural aviation pilots in the U.S. attending the PAASS Program. (There are 3,400 ag pilots in the U.S., 1,593 attended PAASS before the 2020 season.)
Of the 333 accidents that occurred between 2014 and 2020:
- 117, or 35%, were from pilots that had not attended PAASS in the prior five years
- 52, or 15.6%, were from pilots that attended PAASS once in the prior five years
- 41, or 12.3%, were from pilots that attended PAASS twice in the prior five years
- 39, or 11.7%, were from pilots that attended PAASS three times in the prior five years
“All these stats are a way to say that continuing education works,” NAAA CEO Andrew Moore said. “Continuing education makes you more professional. Professionalism makes you safer in the cockpit.”
In 2024, an online learning management system (LMS) will become part of C-PAASS. LMS content will be based on previous PAASS modules and sessions offered at NAAA’s annual Ag Aviation Expo. A variety of topics will eventually be included in the LMS, including those covered in 14 CFR Part 137 knowledge and skills and those on how to properly set up agricultural aircraft to make on-target applications, association officials noted.
C-PAASS certification will be on a calendar year basis. To remain certified, C-PAASS criteria will need to be renewed annually. There will be an initial annual cost of $100 for certification in 2023.
“Ultimately, the goal is for C-PAASS certified aerial applicators to receive additional benefits for being certified,” association officials said, noting benefits could include insurance discounts and more flexibility pertaining to pesticide label language.
For more information: AgAviation.org/cpaass.