From 1997 to 2008, 443 accidents involving cargo-only carriers occurred, including 93 fatal accidents. Total accidents declined 63 percent from a high of 62 in 1997 to 23 in 2008. Small cargo carriers were involved in 79 percent of these accidents and 96 percent of fatal accidents, the Government Accountability Office said.
A review of National Transportation Safety Board data found that pilot performance was identified as a probable cause for about 80 percent of fatal and 53 percent of non-fatal cargo accidents. Furthermore, GAO's analysis of NTSB records for the 93 fatal accidents, using a Federal Aviation Administration flight-risk checklist, identified three or more risk factors in 63 of the accidents. Risk factors included low pilot experience, winter weather and nighttime operations.
In researching its report, the GAO conducted site visits in Alaska, Ohio, and Texas, because they were geographically diverse, had the largest number of air cargo accidents, and because of the relatively large number of air cargo carriers of various sizes located these states.
The GAO found feeder and ad hoc carriers include the majority of small cargo planes, such as Cessna Caravans, Mitsubishi MU-2B-60s, Cessna 401s, and Beech Bonanzas. The FAA estimated that as of May 6, 2009, the small carrier all-cargo fleet contained 1,515 planes.
Air cargo experts interviewed by the GAO considered the FAA's voluntary disclosure programs in which participating carriers voluntarily disclose safety events to the agency as the most effective effort to improve air cargo, but two of the three main voluntary disclosure programs are used by large cargo carriers.
Several industry initiatives focus on small cargo carriers, such as the Medallion Foundation, which has improved small plane safety in Alaska through training and safety audits, the GAO said.
Air cargo safety experts told GAO that further improvements to the small all-cargo carrier industry could be accomplished by these operators installing better technology in their planes to provide additional tools to pilots and collecting data to track their operations. Using flight risk checklists would also help these pilots better assess the accumulated risk factors associated with some cargo flights, the GAO said. ' Chris Gillis
