The WINGS Program

The FAA’s WINGS program has been a key element of joint agency/industry safety education efforts for many years. It is considered gospel among many general aviation safety advocates, and the program has indeed produced positive results. Yet, many are concerned it reaches only a fraction of those pilots who need it, and the positive safety results the program achieves would have resulted anyway because of the safety culture embraced by its current “church-goer” participants.

Key Takeaways:

• The FAA's WINGS program, while having evolved to a Web-based format and producing positive results, is criticized for its limited reach among pilots and its content (particularly flight proficiency) not adequately addressing poor risk management, identified as the root cause of most fatal general aviation accidents.
• The author proposes a "PRO WINGS" program, an administrative amendment, that would offer active, proficient pilots extended flight review intervals based on real-world flight activity, coupled with mandatory annual risk management courses focused on accident case studies and relevant scenarios, to better target accident prevention.

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