VAI Features PAASS’ Fly Safe Message in Daily eNewsletter

VAI Daily, the daily eNewsletter of Vertical Aviation International (formerly Helicopter Association International) featured PAASS’ April 6, 2026 Fly Safe Message in their eNewsletter’s safety section. VAI Daily is sent to 38,000 subscribers each weekday.

The safety message highlighted wire strike avoidance and shared best practices to help ag pilots reduce the risk of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents. CFIT accidents accounted for 40% of agricultural aviation accidents and half of all fatal accidents reported so far in 2025, according to preliminary NTSB data.

Pilots are also being warned about a growing low-level hazard: slacklines—rope systems strung between elevated anchor points that can be extremely difficult to see from the air.

The safety message emphasizes treating wires as invisible hazards, conducting multiple reconnaissance orbits from different directions, maintaining strong situational awareness, and completing additional recon passes when returning to a field or changing swath direction. Pilots should also check NOTAMs and online slackline resources and remember that no job is worth accepting an unsafe field.

Fly Safe messages are sent every other Monday in April and May and every Monday in June, July, and August. If you’re not receiving the Fly Safe Messages, please send an email to [email protected] or view them here.