EAA Responds That Newspaper Report Is "Misleading"

In the wake of the crash of a Tecnam P2002 that killed a Texas high school student and his instructor, one aviation lawyer has called the safety of the entire category into question.

Tecnam P2002 File Photo Courtesy Tecnam

Aviation attorney John Kettles, who is also a pilot, told The Dallas Morning News that LSA's "are not nearly as safe" as, say, a Cessna 150 or Cherokee 140 as a training airplane. "You’ve got a lower requirement for the airplane and a lower requirement for the design and testing," he told the paper.

Kettles cites the self certification process that allows manufacturers to certify the airworthiness of the airplanes without the same level of documentation.

Alejandro House, the executive director of the aviation program in which Dunbar High School participates, says the Tecnam was selected following an extensive research period based in part on its safety record. He said the Tecnam is one of the most stable training platforms in the category. "We did our analysis because safety is the most important priority for our students," he said.

In a response to the DMN article, EAA Vice President, Industry and Regulatory Affairs Earl Lawerence said the story gave a "misleading and incomplete glimpse" of the light sport segment of the industry. He points out that the FAA approved all standards for the Light Sport category, and those standards are reviewed every two years by the agency. To self-certification, Lawerence says that "These standards were created under the auspices of ASTM International, which maintains standards on everything from heart pacemakers to crayons, and included FAA input throughout the process. These standards have also been adopted by many other developed nations, including Australia, New Zealand, Israel and China, and mirror European standards in place for many years. In addition, many of these same light-sport aircraft have served as primary training airplanes in European nations for more than 20 years."

The FAA and NTSB are still investigating the cause of the accident, and Lawerence points out (correctly, ed.) that it is far too early in the process to place the blame on the aircraft or the pilots. The exact cause of the accident may not be known for some time. "It is a disservice to all involved to affix suspicion primarily on the aircraft prior to the completion of any investigation," he says.

FMI: www.tecnam.com/index_en.html, www.eaa.org