President's Position: Safety first—wherever and whenever

If we don’t fly often enough, our skills can atrophy—and no matter how long we’ve been flying, all of us can benefit from training and education to stay sharp. For more than 60 years, the AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI) has been the industry leader in providing comprehensive resources to help pilots do just that. And as the way we get our information changes and technology evolves, ASI is working to provide innovative safety resources to the pilot community.

Not to toot our own horn, but GA has never been safer—and it’s clear ASI is making an impact. The accident rate has declined by 90 percent since 1950, and ASI content consumption is up to more than 3.5 million views a year.

One of ASI’s newest tools to help us sustain that positive trend is the focused flight review program. A flight review is a great time to work with a CFI to polish basic skills, but you can also use it as an opportunity to expand your knowledge base. ASI and several industry partners collaborated to provide turnkey scenarios, complete with preflight study and inflight profiles that focus on a variety of high-risk operations. Pilots can choose from different set-ups to improve flying fundamentals such as stick-and-rudder skills, decision making, understanding of aircraft operating envelopes, technologies, performance capabilities, and loss-of-control precursors.

Wherever you are and however you like to view content, ASI has you covered with innovative safety resources.Wherever you are and however you like to view content, ASI has you covered, from entertaining podcasts and short educational videos to in-depth accident case studies—all available on your phone, iPad, or computer.

ASI’s There I Was… podcast invites listeners into the cockpit as pilots share personal stories about their most challenging situations and skills they’ve used to avoid a worst-case scenario. This is a great way to hear firsthand how pilots flew themselves to safety—so you can, too. ASI’s short and engaging safety videos are another way to refine skills we might normally take for granted. In less than three minutes, you can gain valuable knowledge from experienced pilots to help fine tune the fundamentals you’ve learned along the way. I find them so engaging that it’s impossible to watch just one. All of this content is funded by donations to the AOPA Foundation. None of your AOPA member dues go to ASI.

Another way AOPA is helping make our members the safest pilots out there is by organizing more in-person workshops where you can hone your skills. Whether you’re traveling to see us at one of our regional fly-ins, EAA AirVenture, or a local aviation event, we want to make the most of our time together. To do that, we bring together the best safety experts available anywhere.

For example, this month at our second regional fly-in of the year, in Santa Fe, New Mexico (September 14 and 15), world-class aerobatic instructor and designated pilot examiner Catherine Cavagnaro will help pilots to better understand unusual attitudes, spins, stalls, and the conditions that cause upsets. It’s a great way to learn from an industry leader and ask questions about your own experiences—whether you catch Cavagnaro’s seminar in Santa Fe; Carbondale, Illinois (October 5 and 6); or Gulf Shores, Alabama (October 26 and 27). Sessions at the AOPA Fly-Ins cover a wide range of topics, from IFR and VFR techniques to hazards such as controlled flight into terrain and thunderstorms. Check out the online schedule for other workshops and seminars to help you fly smarter.

As a community, we’re getting safer. But we’re still losing too many of our friends in GA accidents—a loss I know too well, having lost four friends in three accidents this year. Let’s commit to doing all we can to keep ourselves and our fellow pilots safe. We can use the great resources from ASI to build up our own safety knowledge, so we can continue enjoying the freedom to fly—safely—for years to come.

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