General Aviation Accident & Pilot Safety

Ask any pilot, safety is top priority when it comes to flying. General aviation accident prevention is the focus of our NTSB Debriefer. Learn keys to being a safe pilot with the articles below.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 Great Places Not To Have An Accident Don’t spend so much time looking at scenery that you neglect to look at flight necessities One of the truly wondrous things about general aviation is the ease with which you can reach vacation sites that would be a hassle via road, ferry or airline transportation.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 The Light-Sport Safety Record Tracking 2009 incidents While the NTSB’s preliminary statistics show that the number of general aviation accidents dropped again last year, as did the number of people killed, the estimated number of hours flown also dropped, resulting in a slight increase in both the overall and fatal accident rates.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 Monitoring What’s Going On Managing pilot workload Individuals who have passed their FAA written exams and practical tests don’t necessarily have the knowledge and skills to become trustworthy pilots.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 Analyzing Pilot Performance The NTSB’s findings on the Colgan Air crash NTSB investigators were able to assemble plenty of data to reconstruct what happened on board the Colgan Air Bombardier DHC-8-400 that crashed at Clarence Center, N.Y., on February 12, 2009.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 Recognizing You’re In Trouble Fatigue can cause pilots to fall behind One of the most important skills for pilots to possess is the ability to recognize when they’re falling behind in an unfolding scenario. Frequently, pilots who fall too far behind experience accidents and are immortalized in NTSB accident reports.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 Safety’s Ideal World Unfortunately, we don’t always learn from example In an ideal world, once the probable cause of an accident is identified, there never will be an accident like it again.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Getting Ready For NextGen The controllers are as crucial as the automation Recently, NTSB Chairman Deborah A. P. Hersman issued a warning that those in the government and aviation industry who are enamored of the planned Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) should get their heads out of the clouds and realize that the people who will have to use the system—i.e., the air traffic controllers—are as important to safety as the automation itself.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Muffler Inspection It’s critical to ensuring a safe flight If you were to make a list of the most fun and glamorous aspects of flying, I’d bet that inspecting an aircraft’s muffler wouldn’t be on it.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Sweet Dreams Don’t take for granted the importance of a good night’s rest If the NTSB had its way, the FAA would be gauging whether or not you’re having sweet dreams and sleeping through the night cuddled up with your teddy bear.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 The Steve Fossett Accident The NTSB’s findings on the famed aviator’s fatal crash The NTSB says the probable cause of the 2007 crash of adventurer Steve Fossett was an inadvertent encounter with downdrafts above mountainous terrain that exceeded the climb capability of the Bellanca Super Decathlon he was flying. Downdrafts, high-density altitude and mountainous terrain were all contributing factors.

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