Training flights are generally among the safest in general aviation.
Watchful CFIs limit the potential for mischief during dual instruction, while the constraints put on student solos help assure that any accidents that do occur usually result from errors of technique, which twist airplanes, instead of the errors of planning and judgment that kill pilots. Simulating emergencies necessarily involves working close to the edge. Inattention or insufficient planning can turn a simulation into a real emergency within seconds.
Particularly tragic are the accidents that occur while practicing emergency techniques that aren’t widely accepted. Calling it “The Impossible Turn” is a slight exaggeration—the AOPA Air Safety Institute has in-flight footage of one pilot who managed it successfully—but turning back to the runway after losing your only engine isn’t recommended in most situations, and practicing it close to the ground is unforgiving.
A Pilatus PC-12 crashed attempting this maneuver in Montana in 2006, killing both instructor and student; earlier the same year, a Cirrus SR20 in California tried this maneuver once, losing too much altitude to make it to the runway but recovering in time—then stalled and crashed on the second attempt. Again, both on board were killed.
If turnback maneuvers are to be practiced at all, doing so from an altitude high enough to assure stall recovery seems like a sensible precaution.
Likewise, for maneuvers that compromise aircraft control—like slow flight or single-engine work in a twin—it’s also essential that student and instructor share a clear understanding of entry and recovery procedures and the circumstances that require the maneuver to be aborted.
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