ANCHORAGE (AP) -- That old image of the Bush pilot -- Alaska's cowboy of the air -- may be getting reined in a bit as safety officials try to cut the death toll in airplane crashes.
The Federal Aviation Administration says one reason for Alaska's spotty safety record is the attitude that risk is just part of flying here.
''Studies by the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) in 1980 and 1995 found that pilot and passenger attitudes toward flying in Alaska are problematic,'' said John Duncan, manager of the FAA's Alaska flight standards division. He announced the FAA's ''Circle of Safety'' education program Friday.
That effort is starting with an educational package for large customers of the rural carriers. Those include school districts, remote municipalities, and Native corporations.
The idea is that those groups can set their own safety standards, which can be more stringent than what the FAA requires. Those groups can also instruct travelers on what questions to ask before flying, and how to address safety problems they may observe.
Crashes of small commercial planes continue to bring sorrow to villages and towns across the state. Year in and year out, those crashes kill about 20 people a year in Alaska. It's a figure that's been fairly stable for the last decade or so. There were 22 such deaths last year.
Thirty-five commercial planes crash in Alaska in a typical year, a figure that hasn't really budged for a decade.
For the FAA, it's worthwhile to concentrate on safety in Alaska. In the air taxi category, for instance, the state had a third of the U.S. crashes logged last year.
Commercial pilots feel pressures from passengers who want to get home, consult a doctor, or arrive in time for their sister's wedding.
The pilots also feel pressure from their employers to keep the revenue from passengers, who might otherwise walk away and buy a seat from another carrier willing to take more chances, Duncan said.
Airlines are trying to take some of the pressure off the pilots, said Bryan Carricaburu. He's the chief pilot for PenAir, one of oldest of the state's smaller airlines.
''I think the whole culture of flying in the state of Alaska is starting to focus on safety,'' he said. ''We don't like to call them Bush pilots. We want that whole image of the Bush aviator made of steel and nails to go away.''
More and more carriers are making safety a top priority, Carricaburu said, pushed by rising insurance rates as well as the tragic consequences of aircraft smashing into the ground.
''The idea is to get everybody on the same playing field,'' he said, so consumers don't shop for the carriers willing to take chances. ''We want to get the highest level of safety we can.''
The new FAA consumer education program comes on the heels of a voluntary program in Alaska allowing airlines to advertise their adherence to higher safety standards.
''With increasing training and oversight, I think we'll see a reduction in accidents,'' said Carricaburu, the PenAir chief pilot.
Safety issues are already being discussed in some of the rural communities PenAir serves, according to Carricaburu.
''Rural communities like King Cove and False Pass have been teaching kids in the schools about what they should be expecting when they fly,'' he said. ''It's an effort to get safety on the minds of individuals.''
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On the Net: Carrier safety records: http://www.alaska.faa.gov/flt--std/SystemSafety/operator.pdf
Flight safety information: http://www.alaska.faa.gov/flt--std/index.html
