Safety Spotlight: Number Crunching

The encouraging news is that the number of stall mishaps continues to decline, reflecting the significant and sustained drop in overall general aviation mishaps over the period of the study. In the last year of analysis (2014), GA suffered almost 100 fewer stall mishaps than in the first year, and fatal stall accidents dropped by more than half. Some of this decline can be attributed to a drop in GA activity, but measuring the accident rate (mishaps per 100,000 flight hours) normalizes the data for activity levels. The decline in raw numbers of mishaps—and specifically, stall mishaps—is steeper than the drop in flight activity. Advances in equipment, training, and policies are having a positive impact.

Frustratingly, more than two-thirds of all stall mishaps still occur on personal flights, and 25 percent of all stall accidents occur in Experimental aircraft, although Experimentals only accounted for approximately 5 percent of all GA flight activity over the course of the study. Clearly, we have work to do in the personal flying category, which encompasses how most of us fly. Type clubs and pilots of Experimental aircraft may want to consider revised awareness training and a renewed focus on stall awareness and prevention.

Surprisingly, more stalls occur on takeoff and climbout than on approach or landing. Stalls during the departure phases of flight also are the most deadly, resulting in fatalities about half the time. Wind did not appear to play a significant role in any phase of flight, since two-thirds of stall mishaps occurred with windspeeds below 10 knots and gusts below 5 knots.

The surprising news that stalls are more likely on takeoff and climbout than on approach or landing gave me pause as an instructor.The startling news that stalls are more likely on takeoff and climbout than on landing gave me pause as an instructor to wonder whether I have been emphasizing stall awareness enough during the departure phases of flight. I cover it extensively with students during landing work and especially the base-to-final turn, but based on the enlightening data in the stall report, I will spend more time on stall awareness during the departure phases of flight.

Given that almost every stall is avoidable, we can drive further mishap reductions by continuing to advance training, equipment, and procedures. Good work is underway to make more modern, non-TSOed equipment available to a broader range of the GA fleet. Equipment such as autopilots and angle-of-attack indicators can help pilots avoid task saturation, distraction, and misplaced priorities. All of us in the GA community must continue to support this promising work.

The stall report suggests it’s time for a new look at stall and spin training. Most pilots are taught stall awareness in a controlled, predictable environment—with focus on recognition of aircraft response, followed by proper recovery technique. But this important training doesn’t address how quickly inadvertent stalls can occur, and it doesn’t address the drop in situational awareness of aircraft performance that contributes to most stalls. The industry must develop scenarios that improve pilot awareness of how rapidly the stall envelope can expand, thus exacerbating the consequences of distraction and misplaced priorities. We need training scenarios where stalls and recovery are not the stated, predictable event, but an unexpected event (to the student) caused by distraction or misapplied flight controls.

Finally, given the high percentage of stalls that occur during takeoff, climbout, and go-around, training should include aircraft-type-specific procedures and techniques that emphasize constant cross-checking of power, pitch, and airspeed during the departure phases of flight.

ASI’s Stall and Spin Accident Report is enlightening. We’re making good progress in reducing the numbers of stalls and spins, but there is much more we can do. Take a few minutes to read the report, reflect on changes you can make to your techniques and procedures to make you an even safer pilot, and then, go fly!