What is Pilot Error?

J. Mac McClellan

Monday, July 16, 2001 at 08:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The article argues that "pilot error" is an oversimplified and often misapplied term, particularly in personal aviation, and true pilot errors are rare events primarily found in highly regulated transport-category flying.
In personal aviation, what is frequently labeled "pilot error" is more accurately understood as a "pilot decision" where the individual knowingly accepts inherent risks, balancing them against the rewards of flying.
Reframing "pilot error" as "pilot decision" fosters a more realistic understanding of aviation risks, shifting the focus from avoiding mistakes through superior skill to making informed, conservative choices given inherent limitations.
This perspective allows pilots to better learn from accident history and incorporate risk-reward considerations into their flight planning, acknowledging that even prudent decisions carry a degree of unavoidable risk.

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I’m sick of the term “pilot error.” A true pilot error is a rare event. But what is so often labeled a pilot error is actually a pilot decision that didn’t result in the outcome expected by the pilot, the regulators or the public.

Real pilot errors can only occur in transport-category airplanes that are being flown to the FAR Part 121 standards that govern the major airlines. This type of flying is the safest that we know how to do, or at least is the safest tradeoff our society is willing to make when it compares risk to financial costs and convenience. Business jet operators may choose to fly their transport-category airplanes to an even higher safety standard than the airlines, and many do.