News Archive

General aviation enjoys safest year ever
AOPA Air Safety Foundation lauds continuing improvement

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation said that preliminary statistics announced March 2 by the National Transportation Safety Board show that 1998 was the safest year yet for general aviation—the nation’s non-airline flight operations.

“General aviation’s accident rate and fatal accident rate were the lowest recorded since record keeping began in 1938,” said Bruce Landsberg, Air Safety Foundation executive director. “GA pilots are flying more hours and flying more safely. This continues a steady trend of improving safety. But we can still do better.”

The estimated fatal accident rate of 1.35 accidents per 100,000 hours represents a 3.6 percent improvement from the revised 1997 rate of 1.40. There were 361 fatal general aviation accidents during 26.8 million flight hours and an estimated 35 million non-airline, non-military flights for business, commercial, government, personal, and training purposes in 1998.

General aviation’s estimated total accident rate was also at a historic low—7.12 per 100,000 flight hours, a 2.3 percent improvement from the previous year.

Most areas of general aviation flying showed improvement. Business flying accidents declined 8.2 percent. The number of instructional flying accidents dropped 3 percent. However, personal flying accidents increased 9.8 percent to 1,234 in 1998.

The number of midair collisions remained steady at 15, with 12 involving fatalities.

The total number of accidents (1,907 versus 1,858 in 1997) and the number of fatal accidents (361 versus 356 in 1997) increased slightly in 1998. Because there was more flying activity, however, more meaningful accident rate comparisons showed improvement.

“Accident rates give us a comparison of how we’re doing from year to year,” said Landsberg, “and 1998 continued general aviation’s ongoing improvement in safety.”

General aviation safety has improved steadily and dramatically over the past 50-plus years.

From a total accident rate of 77.83 per 100,000 hours in 1946, safety improved almost fourfold to 20.65 by 1968. In the past 30 years, that accident rate has been cut again almost threefold.

“Better dissemination of safety information and more continuing pilot education have undoubtedly helped reduce accidents,” said Landsberg, “Our challenge now is to continue to improve pilot judgment and human factors. We can reduce the accident rate even more by reducing human error.

“Systemic changes, such as improving the weather information available to pilots, would also improve safety.”

Chartered in 1950 by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Air Safety Foundation is the largest private, nonprofit organization in the United States dedicated to general aviation safety research, continuing pilot education, and training. The foundation’s free safety seminars reached some 32,000 pilots nationwide in 1998.

The foundation is funded largely by donations from individual pilots themselves.

99-1-044

March 2, 1999