In the last decade, the general aviation fatal accident rate, which had been decreasing for some time, reached a plateau and has stubbornly resisted industry and FAA efforts to further reduce it. Hovering in the range of 1.20-1.38 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours, this safety record is widely considered a deterrent to general aviation growth and may be one of the reasons student starts have continued to decrease. As a community, we may have oversold the benefits of 288
Train To Mitigate Risk
In the last decade, the general aviation fatal accident rate, which had been decreasing for some time, reached a plateau and has stubbornly resisted industry and FAA efforts to further reduce it. Hovering in the range of 1.20-1.38 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours, this safety record is widely considered a deterrent to general aviation growth and may be one of the reasons student starts have continued to decrease. As a community, we may have oversold the benefits of a new generation of technically advanced aircraft (TAA) to an emerging latent market of individuals who are not traditional enthusiasts and who wish to use these aircraft for safe transportation.
Key Takeaways:
- The general aviation fatal accident rate has plateaued due to pilots' ineffective risk management, stemming from an outdated training doctrine that inadequately teaches risk identification, assessment, and crucial mitigation strategies.
- Existing risk management tools (e.g., PAVE) are insufficient, often providing simplistic "go-no/go" decisions without offering practical in-flight mitigation techniques, hindering pilots from safely navigating challenging conditions.
- A new, industry-led training approach is essential to emphasize comprehensive risk mitigation using frameworks like "TEAM" (Transfer, Eliminate, Mitigate, Accept Residual Risk), empowering pilots to actively manage and reduce risks for safer flight completion.
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