McSpadden Report Shows Decline in General Aviation Accidents for 2023

Attention all flight instructors and aviation safety fans. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s (AOPA) Air Safety Institute has released the 35th Richard G. McSpadden Report—formerly known as the Joseph T. Nall Report.

The report was renamed to honor McSpadden, who was killed in an airplane accident on October 1, 2023. McSpadden devoted a good portion of his career to studying ways to make general aviation safer.

The annual report identifies accident causal factors going back two years—which is roughly the length of time it takes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to complete an accident investigation. The report includes details about pilot certification most frequently involved in a particular type of accident (the answers may surprise you) and identifies the phases of flight where accidents attributed to certain events, such as loss of control, are more frequently happening.

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For safety-minded pilots, the report’s annual publication is like a cross between the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and the holiday wish book put out by Toys “R” Us—it is something we look forward to every year.

For many years the report was issued in hard copy. Today, the report is all digital, compiled from the NTSB reports that are assembled in the same fashion and updated on a rolling 30-day cycle.

Analyzing 2023

The news from this year’s report is encouraging, showing there has been a decline in GA accidents. In broad strokes, in 2023 there were 1,097 GA accidents in the United States, of which 186 were fatal.

According to Robert Geske, AOPA Air Safety Institute senior manager of aviation safety analysis, there was a significant increase in flight activity, from 26.8 million hours in 2022 to 28.4 hours in 2023. Crunching the numbers, the overall accident rate fell to 3.86 per 100,000 flight hours, down from 4.3 in 2022.

In addition, the fatal accident rate also declined from 0.68 to 0.65.

How to Apply the Report

The online document breaks down the type of aircraft involved and the phases of flight where the accidents happened.

Homebuilt Aircraft

The report notes there was an increase in the number of accidents involving fixed-wing, amateur-built aircraft.

In 2022 there were 145 accidents, of which 31 were fatal. In 2023 the number of accidents increased to 158, but the amount of fatalities dropped to 29.

Helicopter Accidents

Helicopter operations are also covered in the report.

It was noted in 2023 that noncommercial helicopter operations experienced 70 accidents, of which 10 were fatal. Commercial helicopter operations suffered 39 accidents, of which eight resulted in fatalities.

Fixed Wing

It should come as no surprise that a great many accidents of fixed-wing aircraft happen during landing, as it is common to do multiple takeoffs and landings during training flights, and it is a requirement for currency and proficiency.

However, encouragingly, the number of these accidents has shown a downward trend since 2016. That year, there were 420 landing accidents. 

In 2022, the number dropped to 346, and in 2023, the number of landing accidents was 329. The majority of these events are classified as “loss of control on the ground.” This can mean anything from a ground loop to overshooting the runway or a wingtip or tail strike, or going off the side of the runway when the pilot does not use enough rudder to regain control, which leads to an off-runway excursion.

Of these accidents, 147 happened in fixed-gear aircraft in daytime visual meteorological conditions (VMC), and 97 of the accidents occurred when a CFI was on board.

Loss of control was also a factor in accidents that happened during the maneuvering phase of flight, and of the 68 reported, 28 were fatalities.

There also was an uptick in the number of accidents attributed to fuel management issues.

Casual factors include fuel exhaustion when the aircraft runs out of usable fuel as well as fuel mismanagement when there is fuel on board but it is not accessed. This can be because of a mechanical issue like a blocked fuel line or malfunctioning fuel pump, or pilot error, for example, not repositioning the fuel selector valve in a timely fashion or not knowing the procedure for switching fuel tanks in the aircraft flown.

The numbers on accidents resulting from an uncommanded loss of engine power contain some surprises.

“Interestingly, partial engine power loss saw a higher lethality compared to total engine failure, suggesting that pilots struggle to properly address and adapt to a partial power failure,” Geske said.

A study of NTSB reports reveals that when there is a partial loss of engine power, the pilot may be reluctant to take immediate action, or if the power loss is intermittent, they may pass up appropriate landing areas thinking they have “fixed” the problem only to find out moments later that it remains and they no longer have a suitable place for landing.

Things We Can Work On

Aviation will never be accident-free, but the McSpadden report reminds us there are still things pilots can work on to reduce the number of accidents.

For example, the report notes that the majority of the events happen in daytime VFR conditions—that is, when the most pilots are flying is when we need to be the most vigilant. 

Respect for weather needs to also be in a pilot’s mindset. There are still a lot of accidents attributed to the attempt to continue VFR flight into instrument conditions. Always get a weather briefing and know what your options are—turn around, land at the nearest suitable airport, or get ready to go on the gauges if instrument rated and the aircraft is appropriately equipped. 

Accept that an accident can happen to any pilot. Practice emergency maneuvers and fly with a CFI more than the minimum of once every two years for the flight review.

Doing these things will help you be a better pilot and can help prevent becoming a statistic.