Are you a safe pilot
The ingredients of skilled flight
Here at the AOPA Air Safety Institute, we analyze trends in general aviation safety by studying NTSB accident reports, and we publish these trends on our website annually in the Richard G. McSpadden Accident Report (formerly the Joseph T. Nall Report). We use this understanding of accident causes to shape the content we produce.
Our approach to safety analysis has always been reactive; accidents are investigated, and we study the resulting patterns. We are now exploring models to analyze different data sets to develop predictive ways of assessing pilot risk. And we’re starting with the following set of hypotheses that we believe make a pilot safe.
More flight time makes a pilot safer. This is supported by our analysis of a small sample of insurance claims. We found that insurance claims were highest with pilots with less than 100 hours total pilot time and fell off dramatically after 600 hours total time. Additionally, pilots with more than 300 hours in make and model were less likely to have an insurance claim.
Better quality flight time makes a pilot safer—the kind of flight time that broadens experience, enhances capability, and sharpens judgment. If you routinely fly to the next county for a pancake breakfast, plan and fly a cross-country, perhaps to an airport surrounded by Class C airspace, to exercise your navigation and communication skills.
Refresher or recurrent training makes a pilot safer. Pilots who train often have safer flying records. One only needs to look at the military or the airlines for proof. Instead of waiting for your flight review, seek out type-specific training from a type club or an instructor who specializes in your aircraft. You might find yourself outside your comfort zone, but that’s where the learning happens.
Active members of type clubs are safer. This is a self-evident truth known to all those who regularly attend their annual type club or owner/pilot association events. Networking with other aircraft owners through a type club or owners association and absorbing the advice of experts during safety seminars improves your understanding of aircraft systems and procedures.
Pilots with the right attitude—as well as ability to make honest assessments of their capabilities and limitations—are safer pilots. Our analysis of the NTSB accident database confirms this time and again. A solid understanding of aeronautical decision making (ADM) fosters a systematic and structured approach to making the best possible decisions while flying. I believe the right attitude is key to good ADM and critical to deterring normalization of deviation, which happens when pilots become complacent and get comfortable cutting corners to the point that this kind of behavior—as dangerous as it is—starts to feel normal.
And finally, pilots who continually learn are safer. Learning involves refreshing ourselves on fundamentals and expanding our knowledge into new or more challenging areas of flight. It’s important to stay on top of recent changes to procedures, as the FAA frequently publishes revisions to its instructional manuals. For example, the spiral dive recovery in Chapter 5 of the Airplane Flying Handbook now includes an upset recovery template that specifically calls for applying forward stick pressure to unload the aircraft rather than simply leveling the wings and pitching for the horizon. Airplanes still fly the same, but much has been learned and published since many of us first passed our written exam.
So, until the data tells us otherwise, I will continue to believe that safe pilots fly often, seek annual training in the environments in which they fly, take advantage of type club membership to continuously learn, and have the right attitude to challenge old beliefs and expand their knowledge.
You don’t have to wait until we publish the results of our analysis—jump in and try something new. You can satisfy four of the safe pilot attributes I mentioned by getting some upset recovery, spin, or aerobatic training. You can find a credentialed upset prevention and recovery training school near you by checking out the UPRT Network (uprtn.org). This network is new and growing, and it is a great resource to find high quality upset and spin training near you. Stay focused and stay safe! 
