Out Of Control?

The FAA, NTSB and the aviation community have spent a lot of time and effort analyzing how and why pilots lose control of their aircraft, historically the leading cause of fatal general aviation accidents. A recent report by the FAA/industry General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC-see the sidebar on the opposite page), closely looked at the reasons why, highlighting dozens of recommended mitigations to reduce loss-of-control (LOC) accidents. Many of its recommendations have great value.

Key Takeaways:

• Loss of Control (LOC) is the leading cause of fatal general aviation accidents, with current safety efforts focusing on direct mitigations like Angle-of-Attack (AoA) indicators.
• The article argues that existing accident analyses and recommendations often address only the *final links* in the accident chain, rather than the deeper root cause of poor risk management and situational awareness.
• A more effective strategy to prevent LOC accidents involves integrating comprehensive risk management knowledge and skills into both new pilot training and existing pilot flight reviews.
• Pilots can proactively reduce their personal LOC risks by maintaining basic flying skills, pursuing risk management education, conducting thorough pre-flight and in-flight risk analyses, and engaging in risk-based flight reviews.

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