Airwork: Risky Business

Tom Benenson

Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 05:21 PM ET

Verified

** Aviation leaders gather at the recent Pilot
Training Reform Symposium.**

Key Takeaways:

The stagnation in general aviation accident rates is attributed to pilots' failure in risk assessment and management, with "loss of control" often being a symptom of poor prior decisions rather than the root cause.
Aviation educators must openly acknowledge the inherent risks in flying, rather than downplaying them, and focus on teaching students to recognize, calculate, and mitigate these risks from the very beginning of their training.
To cultivate a strong safety culture, pilot training should adopt scenario-based methods, drawing from real-world accident data, to integrate risk management, aeronautical decision-making, and situational awareness into every lesson.

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(September 2011) The following conversation did not take place during the Pilot Training Reform Symposium sponsored by SAFE (Society of Aviation and Flight Educators) — but it could have.

During a coffee break between sessions, a small cluster of aviation educators are discussing ways to lower the stagnant rate of general aviation acci-
dents and to change the general aviation safety culture.