Safety Spotlight: Make It Personal

We can also acknowledge there is more work to do, and further improvements are well within our capability to achieve. Troubling and stubborn accident categories remain. “Personal” flying accounts for 29 percent of all general aviation activity, yet is responsible for 66 percent of all general aviation accidents and 75 percent of all fatal general aviation accidents. The overwhelming cause of these accidents is pilot error, which has persistently caused 75 percent of accidents for decades.

These stubborn statistics have a motivating element. They mean that if we reach more pilots, influence their thinking, and modify their behavior, we can drive further reductions in the number of accidents and the overall accident rate—and we can save lives. We in aviation should refuse to accept stagnation in these mishap categories. That is why industry associations and type clubs joined ASI in a call to action recently.

The first step in our call to action is to identify the estimated 50 percent of registered pilots who do not access safety materials, and then we plan to impart lasting influence on them when we do reach them. For decades we’ve been decrying the “unreachables,” those blithe pilots who, for whatever reason, don’t consume safety information. Some limited data indicate that pilots who access safety education information are safer pilots. Paradoxically, we struggle to reach the ones who really need us. We are setting out to identify the “unreachables,” and understand how we develop compelling materials that reach more and influence more.

Reaching those inattentive pilots will require all of us, and every pilot can help. As part of our “call to action,” we are launching a “find one, bring one” campaign, which asks pilots to find another pilot and expose that person to safety material. ASI has hundreds of resources, free to anyone (www.airsafetyinstitute.org), and there are other excellent providers of free entertaining, educational content in just about any forum, including podcasts, videos, seminars, and online courses.

Other steps in our call to action include encouraging pilots to join type clubs. As I wrote in an earlier article (“Safety Spotlight: A Valuable Link,” June 2017 AOPA Pilot), type clubs are valuable sources of experience, education, and fun. They take general flying topics and sharpen them into actions and skills specific to the airplane make and model. Next time you are at a fly-in or an airshow, take note of the pilots you respect, who are skillful and knowledgeable—you’ll likely find they are AOPA members and type club members.

This year’s Nall Report also indicates a need for enhanced stick-and-rudder skills. Takeoff and climbout, landing, and fuel management were the top mishap categories. Considering that, in context with ASI’s recently released Stall and Spin report—which identified that most stalls occur on takeoff—there appears to be room for more stick-and-rudder skill training, with emphasis for aircraft control on takeoff. As part of our call to action, we are engaging industry-leading training and instructor associations to help emphasize takeoff control.

We are pleased that this year’s report confirms last year’s substantial drop in the GA accident rates, which have improved dramatically over the past several decades. All of us—trainers, manufacturers, advocacy groups, and government agencies—can take pride that collaborating on difficult and complex initiatives, we produced better procedures, made more reliable equipment at more affordable prices, improved training, and made general aviation even more safe.

This year’s report compels us to accept that despite all we’ve done, it’s not enough and we are not reaching our potential. Better results are well within our reach. We have the ability to continue driving positive advances in GA safety if we commit to working together for more reach and more influence. Join us in the effort. Commit to the “find one, bring one” campaign and help reach the “unreachables” among us.

Finally, keep doing the fun part. The more you fly, the better you fly, the safer you fly. So go fly!