Courtesy NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board today issued its 2010 Federal Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements, adding rail, aviation and marine issues, and updating the status of other issues on the list. At the same time, the Board removed the issue areas dealing with improved protection for school bus passengers and fatigue in the pipeline industry. “Every one of the hundreds of currently open safety recommendations address concerns that the Safety Board has uncovered in its accident investigations,” NTSB Chairman Deborah AP Hersman said. “But the recommendations on the Most Wanted list represent those improvements that can have the widest benefit.” Besides removing two issue areas on the list, the Board reviewed the remaining 13 issue areas on the list and added two new ones. Each issue area is color coded by the NTSB to designate its action/timeliness: Red for Unacceptable Response; Yellow for Acceptable Response, Progressing Slowly; and Green for Acceptable Response, Progressing in a Timely Manner. Improve the Safety of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Flights •Conduct all flights with medical personnel on board in accordance with stricter commuter aircraft regulations. •Develop and implement flight risk evaluation programs for EMS operators. •Require formalized dispatch and flight-following procedures including up-to-date weather information. •Install terrain awareness and warning systems (TAWS) on aircraft used for EMS operations. www.ntsb.gov