iPads To The Pilot's Rescue!

Back in August, AOPAs Air Safety Institute released the latest of its Nall Reports, an in-depth look at a years GA accidents. The newest Nall Report, the 25th, looked at 2013s accidents and found the rate of fatal GA accidents had dropped below one in 100,000 for the first time. Ever. Thats a big deal, especially if it turns out the next few years numbers are similar.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The 2013 Nall Report revealed a historic low in fatal General Aviation (GA) accidents, dropping below one in 100,000 for the first time.
Non-aviation media outlets misattributed this improved safety record primarily to iPad apps and electronic devices.
The article refutes this claim, highlighting that many factors contribute to GA safety, there's no data to link iPads as the primary cause, and such devices can be both helpful and a hindrance.

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Back in August, AOPA’s Air Safety Institute released the latest of its Nall Reports, an in-depth look at a year’s GA accidents. The newest Nall Report, the 25th, looked at 2013’s accidents and found the rate of fatal GA accidents had dropped below one in 100,000 for the first time. Ever. That’s a big deal, especially if it turns out the next few year’s numbers are similar.

In reporting this news from AOPA, some non-aviation media outlets went a little off the rails. Bloomberg News apparently started it, with a story headlined, “iPad Apps Help Cut Fatal Crashes of Private Planes to New Lows.” The piece referred to a conversation with John Hansman, an astronautics and aeronautics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and stated, “Electronic devices, including aviation applications for Apple Inc. iPads and other mobile devices, are giving pilots much better weather information than just a few years ago.”