5 Ways to Crash an Airplane

Lately, the general aviation community has focused, quite correctly, on the very preventable loss-of-control in-flight type of accident (LOC-I). Too many people somehow manage to bend an airplane-or worse-each year basically because they forget to fly it. Its a broad category, and includes a mix of accident causes, from low-level maneuvering, to VFR-into-IMC and to multi-engine training operations. As complex and dynamic as the LOC-I category is, it most assuredly doesnt include the full range of things pilots do to make the accident reports. For example, a look at the other category of pilot-related accidents, as broken down by the AOPA Air Safety Institute (AOPA ASI) in its 25th Nall Report, highlights some other areas where pilots regularly make contributions to the aviation-accident records. Here are five of them, not related to LOC-I.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Monday, January 30, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Beyond loss-of-control (LOC-I) accidents, general aviation pilots frequently contribute to other mishaps through preventable issues in areas such as fuel management, preflight inspections, and taxiing.
Other significant pilot-related accident causes include engine power loss due to neglected carburetor heat and mid-air collisions, often stemming from inadequate lookout.
Preventing these common accidents requires continuous pilot education, diligent planning, thorough operational checks, and effective use of available safety technology.

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Once a pilot commits to flying personal airplanes, whether for transportation or recreation—or both—studying how accidents and incidents occur should be part of their continuing education. A well-rounded pilot should know that studying accident reports to identify common mishaps and understand their lessons goes hand-in-hand with regular training, additional certificates and exposure to different flight operations when considering ways to manage the inherent risk.