So few pilot weather reports (PIREPs) are filed during overnight hours that the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) has difficulty developing accurate weather advisories, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says.
The scarcity of PIREPs — not only overnight but also around the clock — has factored in a number of accidents, the NTSB said in a report made public in late March, citing investigations of 16 accidents and incidents between March 2012 and December 2015 that revealed “PIREP-related areas of concern.”
“Pilots are providing relatively few PIREPS, particularly during good or as-forecasted conditions, and air traffic controllers are not consistently soliciting PIREPs during weather conditions that mandate such services,” the report said. “Also, pilot assessments of weather conditions are subjective, and submitted reports can be inaccurate or incomplete.”
The scarcity of overnight PIREPs might be remedied, in part, if the Cargo Airline Association…
