Fatal Accident Rate Drops Once Again

The EAA is happy to announce another year of increased safety, as the fatal accident rate has once again decreased. Experimental category aircraft, often the problem child of aircraft operations, has seen its fatal accident total fall another 5% to finish below the FAA never-exceed total for the federal fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. 

Overall, general aviation has seen increasing flight hours flown, thankfully without a corresponding increase in accidents. Improvements in aviation are too multivariate to give full credit to any one change today, but advances in pilot awareness, EFB tools enabling better flight planning and weather avoidance, and the addition of ADS-B on aircraft undoubtedly help prevent the root causes of many incidents. Experimental category aircraft, the EAA’s focus, only accounted for 42 fatal accidents in FY 2021. Of those, it should be noted, 33 incidents took place with amateur-built aircraft. 

Amateur-built aircraft have been a point of attention for the FAA, with safety enhancements and pilot training making slight gains in addressing concerns. In their General Aviation Safety fact sheet, the FAA states that from 2013 to 2018, almost a quarter of fatal GA accidents were the result of only 5% of the flying hours. In the majority of those cases, Loss of Control remained the leading cause of fatalities, prompting the release of Advisory Circular (AC-90-190A) to aid pilot transition to unfamiliar fixed-wing airplanes, be they type-certificated or experimental.

The FAA sought to promote another circular, the Additional Pilot Program for Phase I Flight Test (AC 90-116), in the hopes that Builder/Owner Pilots (BP) can enhance their skills and mitigate risks during a period of increased pilot vulnerability. Additional safety in the post-build flight testing phase is available for those desiring an extra, experienced hand in evaluating and learning their new aircraft. Interested pilots can find assistance through EAA’s Additional Pilot Program, and consult their EAA Flight Test Manual for a convenient guide to task-based flight testing of homebuilt aircraft. 

“As positive as these figures are, EAA will not stop here and will continue to lead in making safety the top priority for all of us who fly,” Elliott said. “We have pushed the totals to very small numbers that are substantially fewer than many other common recreational pursuits, such as boating or all-terrain vehicles. But with such small numbers, even one or two accidents can have a negative impact on the overall safety trend.”

FMI: www.eaa.org