AOPA Safety Report Released

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

Meg Godlewski

Friday, November 17, 2023 at 04:55 PM ET

Verified

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

Key Takeaways:

The annual aviation safety report by the AOPA Air Safety Institute has been renamed the Richard G. McSpadden Report to honor its late senior vice president.
The report provides updated data on general aviation safety performance, though final causality relies on potentially lengthy NTSB investigations.
Recent findings indicate an increase in total accidents from 1,050 in 2020 to 1,124 in 2021, with specific concerns noted for noncommercial helicopter accidents and the steady lethality rate of weather accidents.
Pilots and instructors can utilize the report's data to identify accident-prone areas, such as landings, and focus training efforts to improve proficiency and enhance overall safety.

See a mistake? Contact us.

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.