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Dear TFP, I am a student pilot (40 years old, yes, I know, starting late) that keep getting the same question. "Isn't flying dangerous"??? I have heard that flying is safer than driving a motorbike but more dangerous than driving a car statistically. However, is this right? Does anyone have any stats from anywhere in the world that shows any safety numbers?
Kenneth

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Life is a journey, not a destination
AEROSMITH

hard statistics are hard to come up with, because no one really knows how many hours of operation there are each year. best estimates indicate that the fatal accident rate is about the same as driving a motorcycle.

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Everyone must believe in something, I believe that I will go flying.

I'd say that's about right. But there are a lot of factors that are in our control that we can either help to make it safe, or if we ignore add to the accident rate. When was the last time you were doing 120 knots with 5 planes around you? It's not like the highways were your operating just 3 feet from someone else and the can do something stupid and ya'll can crash.

In aviation the challenge is how well maintained the plane is and what is your level of experience as the pilot? Sure things can and do break in flight once in a while, but the biggest contributing factor in my mind is pilot skill and judgement. Knowing when our limits have been exceeded and that need to do something different, or go somewhere else that is within our own limitations for a safe outcome.

Ron

Last year I made some research on the Internet and came to the conclusion that the risk per mile flown in GA was on the order of ten times that of driving a car. I have tried to remember what data did I use and I haven't been able to do it. If I had to do it again I wouldn't know where to start.

Then I recently read in the intro of the book "The Killing Zone: How and why pilots die" that GA aircraft have 10 times less non-fatal accidents per mile than motor vehicles but 7 times more fatal accidents.

The statistics would improve if you exclude dangerous works like electric lines inspections or helicopter works in general, but then maybe you should exclude also professional pilots flying aircraft better equiped than yours, who should be a lot safer than yourself.

So it is difficult to calculate your risk, but flying GA clearly is significantly riskier than driving. What you need to do is to identify as many threats as possible and work to minimise the risk on every one of them. As Jason says, be safe, fly your best.

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Damià
LEMH

This is an interesting question. The issue with "How safe is General Aviation?" is that it's just that... General.

One of the guys at Uncontrolled Airspace-- I want to say it was Jeb Burnside-- made some comments that have always stuck with me.

Basically, what Jeb said echoes what Ron said. In the case of GA, you can remove entire types of operations from the equation. Much less so the case when sharing the road in your car.

We can remove:
- Pipeline monitoring
- Alaskan bush flying
- All rotorcraft operation
- All IFR operation
- All night operations
- All marginal weather operations
- Experimental, Amateur, Homebuilt, Liquid Fuel Rocket Propelled Air Racing
- And so on an so fourth

I'd say you could remove Part 135 operation as well, but those are safer than Part 91 ops.

Additionally, and probably most significantly, if you're a thousand hour pilot vs. a 75 hour pilot (like me) that's a seemingly important one.

When all is said an done; the statical safety of General Aviation isn't what's important to me. I'd like to know what risk exists when flying familiar, well-maintained, standard aircraft on VFR days in familiar airports... And if I have a CFI in the right seat and wear a parachute, how does it change? Or if I get an instrument rating, but still fly on VFR days how does it change?

Researchers believe that iatrogenic ailments (unintended injuries, illnesses or symptoms induced in patients through a doctor's actions or words, or otherwise caused by adverse medical events) are responsible for thousands of deaths each year on wards, many of which are avoidable.

Thus, flying is safer that going to the doctor

Researchers believe that iatrogenic ailments (unintended injuries, illnesses or symptoms induced in patients through a doctor's actions or words, or otherwise caused by adverse medical events) are responsible for thousands of deaths each year on wards, many of which are avoidable.

Thus, flying is safer that going to the doctor

Hello ... I replied to your other post about convincing your wife to take lessons ... and then I saw this post.

Regarding SAFETY ... I read all the accident reports in my monthly issue of AOPA pilot ... so that I learn from other people's mistakes ... and I've taken most of the ASF's e-Learning courses.

What I've learned is that Accidents aren't a SINGLE event. They are a series of little things that all add up to the eventual "accident". So, while you are planning, pre-flighting, flying, etc if there are things that are happening that just aren't right, then make the decision THEN to abort the flight, or turn around, or land, etc ... rather than CONTINUE "to see if it will improve".

I've cancelled a flight with friends on board during run-up because a few things had happened already (late arrival, engine running rough, etc) ... we had planned to go to lunch for a $100 hamburger. They were disappointed, but when I explained that my primary concern was safety and that I didn't want to let ANOTHER thing add to the small, growing list of things that were going WRONG, they understood. We ended up flying another day and the trip was UNEVENTFUL, which is what you want it to be. We all had a great time.

Hope this helps.

You can read about some of my other trips with friends here: http://www.cowygr8.com/category/trips/

I love to fly. I don't care what the "stats" show. I'm going to fly!

Your signature says "life is an journey..."

Go live it!

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