New AOPA Air Safety Foundation Safety Advisor points out potential pitfalls of everyday maneuvering flight

Pilots maneuver on every flight, but improperly done maneuvering flight—especially when close to the ground — can be hazardous, a new ASF Safety Advisor reveals.

ASF's newest Safety Advisor, titled Maneuvering Flight—Hazardous to Your Health?, was released this month as an adjunct to the new major ASF seminar on the same topic and is available both in paper copy and online.

The live ASF seminar, called "Watch This!" will debut this Thursday at AOPA Expo 2003 in Philadelphia.

"Maneuvering flight is something every pilot does on every flight, without exception," said ASF Executive Director Bruce Landsberg. "This new Safety Advisor shows clearly that successful maneuvering flight involves both basic airmanship and judgment and offers straight talk that can help save both money and lives."

The new Safety Advisor reveals that 26.6 percent of fatal accidents occur during maneuvering flight, which is any type of flying other than straight and level. Many maneuvering flight accidents occur when pilots are close to the ground or perform steep turns or aerobatics.

Maneuvering-flight accidents in a recent four-year period caused 570 fatalities and $1.7 billion in lost wages, insurance claims, lawsuits, and the like. "In addition," said ASF's Landsberg, "that doesn't take into account the cost of serious injuries or aircraft damage."

The new ASF Safety Advisor effectively builds the case for continued pilot education in aerodynamics, human factors, and engine failure after takeoff. Discussions focus on buzzing, aerial work (pipeline patrol, banner towing, crop dusting), formation flight, stalls and spins, canyon flying, and more.

Easy-to-understand graphics and photos throughout the brochure complement the text. Accident reports remind pilots about those harsh realities, and a succinct "do and don't" bulleted list provides straightforward tips to improve judgment.

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation, the world's largest nonprofit GA safety organization, was founded in 1950 solely to help general aviation pilots improve flight safety. Since that time, the GA total accident rate has dropped by more than 90 percent despite a large increase in GA flight hours. ASF produces live seminars, online interactive courses, videotapes, written Safety Advisors and other aviation safety materials for free distribution to all GA pilots.

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