| June 3, 2021 |
| NAAREF Safety Session Addresses Fatal Accidents |
| On Monday evening, NAAREF hosted a safety session in an attempt to
prevent any more fatal accidents this season. Currently,
five fatal accidents have occurred in 2021, which is quite high for this point in the season.
While the NTSB is still investigating all these accidents, it appears
at this point that four of the accidents are Controlled Flight Into
Terrain (CFIT) accidents and the other was a stall spin accident. All
four CFIT accidents involved a wire strike. Read More |
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| NAAA & Partners to Exhibit & Participate in Airshow at AirVenture 2021 in Oshkosh, Wis., Celebrating Ag Aviation and its 100th Anniversary |
 After four successful appearances at EAA’s AirVenture from 2016 to 2019,
NAAA will once again exhibit at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July
26–Aug. 1 to showcase and celebrate the industry’s 100th anniversary.
After last year’s cancellation due to COVID-19, we are excited to be
representing the aerial application industry at AirVenture 2021. Read More |
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| Final Report of Global Stakeholders’ 2020 Workshop to Advance Regulatory Risk Assessments of Pesticide Drift from Unmanned and Unmanned Aerial Application Systems (UAS) Released |
| NAAA played a key role last December in North Carolina State
University’s Center of Excellence for Regulatory Science in Agriculture
(CERSA) workshop titled “Advances in Regulatory Risk Assessment of
Pesticide Drift from Unmanned Application Systems (UAS) and Manned
Aerial Application.” NAAA participated actively and was also on the
development committee. CERSA released the final report from the workshop this week. Read More |
|
| USDA Unveils New Coronavirus Relief for Cover Crop Growers |
| Farmers who planted cover crops this year will be eligible for a premium
benefit from the Agriculture Department under most crop insurance
policies, the USDA announced on Tuesday. The new $5-per-acre assistance
is the latest in a series of coronavirus relief efforts being offered to farmers. Read More |
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| Utilize NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System Form |
| NASA’s ARC form 277B has been described as a “Get Out of Jail Free
Card.” Pilots and others have been encouraged to use 227B to report
events they are involved in or if they observe an incident or situation
in which aviation safety may have been compromised. NASA’s Aviation
Safety Reporting System (ASRS) captures confidential reports, analyzes
the resulting aviation safety data and disseminates vital information to
the aviation community. Reporting an event is confidential, voluntary
and nonpunitive. Read More |
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| Ripson Wong, the 2021 Season’s Fifth Ag Pilot Loss, Mourned by NAAA |
On May 18, Ripson Wong was involved in the fifth fatal accident of the
2021 ag season. NAAA members and staff offer their condolences to his
family and friends. He
was from Henderson, Nevada. While more details are forthcoming, his
siblings have established a GoFundMe memorial fund to help his family
with medical expenses related to Ripson’s accident. Read More |
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| In Case You Missed It! |
| NAAA Offers Condolences to Family and Friends of Jakob Porter, Fourth Fatal Accident Victim This Year |
 NAAA members and staff offer their sympathies to the family and friends
of Jakob Porter, who was fatally injured in an ag aviation accident on
May 18. He was born on March 14, 1999, in Natchez, Mississippi, and was a
resident of Ferriday, Louisiana, at the time of his passing. He had
achieved his dream career of flying as an agricultural aviator and flew
for Ferriday Flying Service, working all over the operation’s home
state of Louisiana as well as in Mississippi, Nebraska, Missouri and
Iowa. Read More |
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| 2021 NAAA Membership Directory & Annual Report Mails |
 The 2021 NAAA Membership Directory & Annual Report has mailed. Most
members should receive their copy within the next couple of weeks. At 236 pages, this year’s directory is filled with valuable
information available exclusively to our valued members. As always, it is loaded with operator and pilot contacts,
as well as contact information for the premier suppliers of parts and
services to the industry. Read More |
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| 2021 Ag Aviation Expo Hotel Room Block Open |
 Join us for the 2021 Ag Aviation Expo and 100th anniversary celebration of the aerial application industry in
Savannah, Georgia, Dec. 6‒9. The NAAA hotel room block is now open! The Westin is sold out, but we have four other great hotels in the NAAA block. It is important for attendees to stay in the NAAA room
block. We get the best hotel room rates in the heart of the Savannah
district. If the hotel block is not filled, we cannot offer these
great rates for future years! Read More |
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| Mid-Atlantic Ag Aviation Operations Coexisting with Presidential TFRs |
 The U.S. military intercepted a small aircraft that flew into restricted airspace in Delaware last weekend, grounding the pilot at a nearby airport as President Biden visited his home in Wilmington, Delaware. When President Biden visits his Delaware home, a 30-nautical-mile presidential temporary flight restriction (TFR) ring is in effect. Mid-Atlantic agricultural aviation operators working in this vicinity expressed concern to NAAA earlier in the year about whether they would be allowed to treat cropland within the TFR. NAAA has identified certain protocols to allow for such operations. Read More |
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| NAAA Endorses Raspet Flight Research Laboratory’s Continued Efforts to Collect GPS Data Protecting Manned Ag Aircraft from Drones; Collect Data Now for Submission This Fall |
| Mississippi State University’s (MSU) Raspet Flight Research Laboratory
is continuing its research study on safe operational distances between
low-altitude, manned aircraft and drones. MSU Raspet is now beginning
the second stage of GPS flight log data collection from manned
agricultural aircraft. Many of you may have donated GPS flight log data
during the first stage of data collection from 2017 to 2020. This second
stage of GPS flight log data collection is critical to continue MSU
Raspet’s ongoing research. Read More |
|
 accidents and the other was a stall spin accident. All
four CFIT accidents involved a wire strike.){kind=small}
 workshop titled “Advances in Regulatory Risk Assessment of
Pesticide Drift from Unmanned Application Systems (UAS) and Manned
Aerial Application.” NAAA participated actively and was also on the
development committee. CERSA released the final report from the workshop this week.){kind=small}
 captures confidential reports, analyzes
the resulting aviation safety data and disseminates vital information to
the aviation community. Reporting an event is confidential, voluntary
and nonpunitive.){kind=small}
 ring is in effect. Mid-Atlantic agricultural aviation operators working in this vicinity expressed concern to NAAA earlier in the year about whether they would be allowed to treat cropland within the TFR. NAAA has identified certain protocols to allow for such operations.){kind=small}
 Raspet Flight Research Laboratory
is continuing its research study on safe operational distances between
low-altitude, manned aircraft and drones. MSU Raspet is now beginning
the second stage of GPS flight log data collection from manned
agricultural aircraft. Many of you may have donated GPS flight log data
during the first stage of data collection from 2017 to 2020. This second
stage of GPS flight log data collection is critical to continue MSU
Raspet’s ongoing research.){kind=small}
