NTSB: Glass Hasnt Made Us Safer

A year-long study by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concludes the last decades glass-cockpit revolution has not resulted in enhanced safety. In making its March 9, 2010, announcement, the Board said its results found single-engine airplanes manufactured between 2002 and 2006 and equipped with glass cockpits had a higher fatal accident rate than similar aircraft with conventional instruments. The NTSB blamed complexity and lack of standardization among different aircraft and their glass panels, which has resulted in pilots failing to "understand the unique operational and functional details of the primary flight instruments in their airplanes."

Key Takeaways:

• A 2010 NTSB study concluded that glass-cockpit equipped single-engine airplanes manufactured between 2002 and 2006 had a fatal accident rate more than twice as high as similar aircraft with conventional instruments.
• The NTSB attributed this higher fatal accident rate to the complexity and lack of standardization among glass panels, leading to pilots misunderstanding their unique operational details.
• The study strongly emphasized the critical need for enhanced, equipment-specific training for pilots operating glass-cockpit aircraft to improve safety and realize the systems' potential benefits.

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