Most students find learning to land the hardest part of presolo training, and their struggles don’t always end after the checkride. Landings are the Achilles heel of nonprofessional pilots. Private, sport, and recreational pilots collectively account for about 30 percent of all fixed-wing accidents—but more than half of all crash landings.
So as your former students get ready to fly off into the great, wide world, what should you warn them to watch out for? Let’s start with overconfidence.
New pilots are pretty good at respecting their limitations. If you compare the number of certificates issued to the number of accidents involving pilots with 100 hours or less at the time, it appears that these new pilots have fewer accidents per year than similar numbers of private, sport, and rec pilots who’ve logged more than 100 hours. Of course, the more experienced pilots may actually be doing more flying, but we don’t know that.
The same thing holds for landing. The number of landing accidents per pilot per year is about 25 percent higher among private, sport, and rec pilots with more than 100 hours. This suggests that as they gain confidence, they might become a little less cautious about how and when they choose to expand their envelopes.
There is one aspect of landing that does give newer pilots particular trouble, and surprisingly enough, it’s not crosswinds: those are a persistent problem. The share of landing accidents involving losses of directional control is about 45 percent in both groups. But deficiencies in airspeed control—leading to hard landings, bounces, stalls, or touching down short of the threshold—cause 30 percent of landing accidents in the 100-and-under set compared to just 20 percent of those among private, sport, and rec pilots who’ve crossed the 100-hour threshold.
Why? New and unfamiliar airports, with the attendant distractions and lack of familiar landmarks, may well come into play. But it’s another reason your soon-to-be former students shouldn’t lose your phone number after they’ve earned their wings. Whether they’re prone to landing long, short, hard, or sideways, you can help them improve.
David Jack Kenny is the Air Safety Institute’s manager of aviation safety analysis. He spent a lot of time working on crosswind landings.
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Most students find learning to land the hardest part of presolo training, and their struggles don’t always end after the checkride. Landings are the Achilles heel of nonprofessional pilots. Private, sport, and recreational pilots collectively account for about 30 percent of all fixed-wing accidents—but more than half of all crash landings.
So as your former students get ready to fly off into the great, wide world, what should you warn them to watch out for? Let’s start with overconfidence.
New pilots are pretty good at respecting their limitations. If you compare the number of certificates issued to the number of accidents involving pilots with 100 hours or less at the time, it appears that these new pilots have fewer accidents per year than similar numbers of private, sport, and rec pilots who’ve logged more than 100 hours. Of course, the more experienced pilots may actually be doing more flying, but we don’t know that.
The same thing holds for landing. The number of landing accidents per pilot per year is about 25 percent higher among private, sport, and rec pilots with more than 100 hours. This suggests that as they gain confidence, they might become a little less cautious about how and when they choose to expand their envelopes.
There is one aspect of landing that does give newer pilots particular trouble, and surprisingly enough, it’s not crosswinds: those are a persistent problem. The share of landing accidents involving losses of directional control is about 45 percent in both groups. But deficiencies in airspeed control—leading to hard landings, bounces, stalls, or touching down short of the threshold—cause 30 percent of landing accidents in the 100-and-under set compared to just 20 percent of those among private, sport, and rec pilots who’ve crossed the 100-hour threshold.
Why? New and unfamiliar airports, with the attendant distractions and lack of familiar landmarks, may well come into play. But it’s another reason your soon-to-be former students shouldn’t lose your phone number after they’ve earned their wings. Whether they’re prone to landing long, short, hard, or sideways, you can help them improve.
David Jack Kenny is the Air Safety Institute’s manager of aviation safety analysis. He spent a lot of time working on crosswind landings.
Related Articles
Most students find learning to land the hardest part of presolo training, and their struggles don’t always end after the checkride. Landings are the Achilles heel of nonprofessional pilots. Private, sport, and recreational pilots collectively account for about 30 percent of all fixed-wing accidents—but more than half of all crash landings.
So as your former students get ready to fly off into the great, wide world, what should you warn them to watch out for? Let’s start with overconfidence.
New pilots are pretty good at respecting their limitations. If you compare the number of certificates issued to the number of accidents involving pilots with 100 hours or less at the time, it appears that these new pilots have fewer accidents per year than similar numbers of private, sport, and rec pilots who’ve logged more than 100 hours. Of course, the more experienced pilots may actually be doing more flying, but we don’t know that.
The same thing holds for landing. The number of landing accidents per pilot per year is about 25 percent higher among private, sport, and rec pilots with more than 100 hours. This suggests that as they gain confidence, they might become a little less cautious about how and when they choose to expand their envelopes.
There is one aspect of landing that does give newer pilots particular trouble, and surprisingly enough, it’s not crosswinds: those are a persistent problem. The share of landing accidents involving losses of directional control is about 45 percent in both groups. But deficiencies in airspeed control—leading to hard landings, bounces, stalls, or touching down short of the threshold—cause 30 percent of landing accidents in the 100-and-under set compared to just 20 percent of those among private, sport, and rec pilots who’ve crossed the 100-hour threshold.
Why? New and unfamiliar airports, with the attendant distractions and lack of familiar landmarks, may well come into play. But it’s another reason your soon-to-be former students shouldn’t lose your phone number after they’ve earned their wings. Whether they’re prone to landing long, short, hard, or sideways, you can help them improve.
David Jack Kenny is the Air Safety Institute’s manager of aviation safety analysis. He spent a lot of time working on crosswind landings.
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