Technological advances such as automation and the increasing availability of on-board weather data likely will strengthen general aviation’s “lackluster safety record,” according to a general aviation safety review spanning more than 30 years.1
The review, published in the July issue of the Aerospace Medical Association’s Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance journal, said that studies have shown that, historically, general aviation accidents account for 94 percent of all civil aviation fatalities in the United States. Between 18 and 23 percent of general aviation accidents result in fatalities, the review added, noting that in 2014 alone, of the 1,143 U.S. general aviation accidents, 236 (20 percent) were fatal.
The researchers’ review of several studies over the past 30 years that aimed to identify risk factors associated with general aviation accidents found that the risk of a general aviation accident increases during a flight in instrument mete…
