While the GA community is certainly optimistic at hearing the 25th annual Nall Report’s announcement of a positive improvement in GA’s fatal fixed-wing accident rate, one positive year can’t quite be called an industry trend. Using 2013 data, GA’s fatal rate declined 19 percent, for the first time falling below 1.0, to 0.99 per 100,000 hours of flight time. The overall GA accident rate during the same period dropped 12 percent. Nall data is gathered by the AOPA Air Safety Institute, from Part 91 operated personal and business travel and flight instruction, as well as professionally flown corporate transport aircraft weighing less than 12,500 pounds.
AOPA Nall Report Shows Decline in GA Fatal Accident Rate
Key Takeaways:
- The 2013 Nall Report indicated a significant 19% decline in general aviation's fatal fixed-wing accident rate, falling below 1.0 per 100,000 flight hours for the first time.
- More than half of this improvement was attributed to a substantial reduction in mishaps involving amateur-built airplanes, narrowing their accident rate gap with certified aircraft.
- In contrast to fixed-wing aircraft, noncommercial helicopters experienced an increase in fatal accidents, leading to their highest fatal accident rate since 2003.
- The AOPA Air Safety Institute's Nall Report annually reviews general aviation accident data to identify trends and inform targeted safety education content.
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