A Trend Worth Sustaining

The FAA’s 2023 fiscal year ended on 30 September, thereby closing the proverbial book on annual statistics the likes of total numbers of Part 121, Part 135, Part 91, and military flight operations; unruly passenger incidents; airport closures; flight delays and cancellations; and—of particular salience to this writing—fatal accidents involving Experimental category and amateur-built aircraft during the 12-month period ending 30 September 2023.

While the rate of accidents based on flight-hours will not be made public until the FAA releases general aviation survey data in 2024, the incidence of accidents involving Experimental category/amateur-built aircraft in fiscal 2023 was the lowest on record.

All told, fiscal 2023 saw a total of 28 fatal accidents involving amateur-built aircraft. Serendipitously, the cited figure represents a 28-percent year-over-year decline from fiscal 2022, during which 39 such mishaps occurred. In addition, the forty fatal accidents involving Experimental category aircraft which transpired in fiscal 2023 represented a thirty-percent decline over the previous 12-month interval—falling seven below the FAA’s not-to-exceed period for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

EAA vice president of advocacy and safety Sean Elliott stated: “The activity data is necessary to paint the full-picture, but the initial indications are very positive indeed. It shows a continuing trend toward safer operations, even as total hours flown increase. It reminds us that safety is an ongoing journey that always needs the highest attention of our flying community.”

Considered across a longer timeline, the nine-year period spanning 1998-2007 saw 598 fatal accidents involving home-built aircraft. Conversely, only 338 such accidents occurred during the nine-year period spanning 2014-2023. The drop is ascribable, in part, to a number of safety initiatives set forth by the EAA during the latter period; these included the EAA Flight Test Manual and the FAA-approved second safety pilot option. Subject programs complemented the long-established EAA Technical Counselor and Flight Advisor programs.

Founded in 1953 by a group of aviation enthusiasts headed by veteran aviator Paul Poberezny, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based non-profit aviation and aerospace organization dedicated to growing participation in flight, aircraft construction, and other aeronautical endeavors via the sharing of the spirit of aviation. Globally, the EAA’s two-hundred-thousand-plus-strong member base is organized into nearly one-thousand chapters.

FMI: www.eaa.org