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AOPA Safety Report Released

AOPA honors Richard McSpadden with renaming of annual study of accident reports.

The annual report is now in its 33rd year. [Shutterstock]
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Key Takeaways:

  • The annual Joseph T. Nall Report, a key aviation safety study, has been renamed the Richard G. McSpadden Report to honor its former senior vice president who died in an accident.
  • The report indicates an increase in total general aviation accidents from 2020 to 2021, alongside concerning trends like an increase in fatal landing accidents and noncommercial helicopter accident rates.
  • Updated monthly with NTSB data, the report serves as a vital tool for pilots and instructors to identify accident-prone areas and improve safety training and proficiency.
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Richard McSpadden Jr., senior vice president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute, was known for his dedication to analyzing aviation accidents to identify causal factors with the hopes of preventing future mishaps. This information was gathered by AOPA and released in the annual study known as the Joseph T. Nall Report. Sadly, McSpadden was killed in an airplane accident on October 1 in Lake Placid, New York. AOPA has decided to honor him by renaming the report the Richard G. McSpadden Report.

About the Report

The data in the digital report is updated on a rolling, 30-day cycle, providing the most current snapshot of general aviation safety performance. The report is always about a year or two behind as it relies on the completion of investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and their probable cause. It can take a year or more for the NTSB to conclude investigations.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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