Capstone Program

The Capstone Program was a United States government-funded aviation safety program for the state of Alaska, primarily focusing on rural areas of the state. This joint effort – between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Alaska Pilot's Association, commercial operators, the University of Alaska, MITRE Corporation, some avionics manufacturers and individual pilots – cut the accident rate in the eastern part of Alaska by around 40%.

The program ran from 1999 until 2006, when the FAA integrated it into the national automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS–B) program.

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, but is one of the smallest in population. In the late 1990s, one out of every 58 people in the state was a pilot, with six airplanes for every ten pilots. With a very limited highway and railroad infrastructure, aviation emerged as the essential – and in most locations the only – transportation system. However, the vital infrastructure supporting aviation fell short of the standards commonly expected or encountered elsewhere in the US.

The harsh environment of Alaska contributed to averages of one aircraft accident every other day, and one accident-related fatality every nine days. More than one-third of the annual air commuter accidents in the US occurred in Alaska, and more than ten percent of the professional pilots working there would not survive a thirty-year career.

In early 1997, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began developing a proposal entitled "Flight 2000". This proposal envisioned rapid deployment and field demonstration of advanced avionics capabilities leading toward implementation of free flight. The proposal was not well received by all segments of the aviation industry, and the industry's RTCA (Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics) Select Committee on Free Flight endorsed a revised approach that included most Flight 2000 program activities. The revised approach was documented in the "Joint Government/Industry Roadmap for Free Flight Operational Enhancements".

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