AEA Pilot's Guide 2022-2023 - 54

GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY
Continued from page 53
dates back to 2008 that can offer insights on safety trends.
Released late last year, the 31st Nall Report provides
comprehensive data for 2019. Until the NTSB issues its
reports on the accidents, a process that can take up to
two years, all of the report's accident data, which the ASI
updates every 30 days, is preliminary. You can compare
data from past reports to current information, but until the
NTSB issues its final reports, and ASI analyzes the data,
more defined comparisons are impossible and the number
of " other/unknown " causes dominates the most recent data.
represents the predominate customer base at many avionics
repair stations, there is a tenuous connection between
them. Of the 988 accidents, 194 of them were attributed to
mechanical causes, with 132 related to the powerplant, 27 to
gear and brakes, 15 to airframe, eight to the fuel system, and
three to instruments. When it comes to safety, three is still too
many, especially when two of them were fatal accidents.
Most non-commercial
fixed-wing accidents
occur during day visual
meteorological conditions.
Customer insights
Wandering through any of the 31 annual Nall Reports
tacitly proclaims that there are no new general aviation
accidents, just previously accident-free pilots being involved
in the same old accidents. (The exception might be the
YouTuber who produced his Taylorcraft bailout accident.)
Accident rates overall and for each of their specific probable
causes varies from year to year. What is of interest to
avionics repair stations are those that identify a challenge
their customers may face and how the technology shops
provide can help pilots meet those challenges.
In 2019, 999 general aviation aircraft were involved in
988 accidents. Of that number, 710 of them were singleengine
land with fixed landing gear, 307 of them with
tailwheels. Representing 71.1% of accidents, 95 of them
- 52.5% - were fatal, resulting in a lethality rate of 13.4%.
Single-engine with retractable gear suffered 184 accidents
(19 of them turbine powered) with 49 of them fatal for a
lethality of 26.6%.
Of these accidents, the bitter end of the error chain of 614
of them, 62.1%, was pilot related. The remainder were 194
mechanical and 180 unknown. Among the possible aerial
missions, which included aerial observation, executive/
corporate, and other work use, personal use dominated with
739 accidents, 139 of them fatal. Instructional use followed
with 187 accidents, 17 of them fatal. Public use, on the other
hand, accounted for three accidents, and firefighting had
one, none of them fatal.
The report subdivides each year's GA accident roster
into non-commercial fixed-wing, commercial fixed-wing,
non-commercial helicopter, commercial helicopter, and
sport/experimental. Their causal categories are landing,
other, takeoff and climb, fuel, maneuvering, descent/
approach, weather, and mechanical. A summary of that
year's accidents opens the analysis of each group, which is
presented through a number of graphs and tables.
Looking at the graphs of overall accident trends and rates
from 2010 to 2019, both have been persistently consistent
since 2013. In 2019, there were 1,169 GA accidents, 212
of them fatal. Of that number, 988, with 179 of them fatal,
involved non-commercial fixed-wing aircraft. While this cohort
Itemizing the certification of the pilots involved in 2019's
non-commercial fixed-wing accidents is confusing. The
footnote, " CFI on board and IFR pilot on board include
single-pilot flights. " For example, the table counted 441
private, 269 commercial, 121 ATPs, and 20 sport pilot
certificate holders. It counts 250 CFIs on board, but like
ATPs, CFIs must also possess a commercial certificate and
instrument rating, and what's unclear is how this influences
the count of 542 IFR pilots on board. Subtracting these
pilots from the IFR total suggests 152 of the private pilots
were instrument rated.
A staggering 817 non-commercial fixed-wing accidents
took place during day visual meteorological conditions, with
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AEA Pilot's Guide 2022-2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AEA Pilot's Guide 2022-2023
