General Aviation Safety - If the Engine Quits, You Glide

A form of transportation guaranteed to have zero accidents hasn't been invented yet — even driving cars, trucks, buses, boats, and motorcycles, riding bicycles, and walking have associated dangers. General Aviation (GA) accidents do occur, although they happen far less frequently than most nonpilots believe. If something does go wrong in the air, aircraft are stable and often have built-in backup systems, and pilots are specially trained to handle a multitude of situations.

If the Engine Quits

Just like a bird that's not flapping its wings, small airplanes can glide very well. A small airplane that loses all engine power at 10,500 feet (a common cruising altitude) can fly for more than 15 miles. Keep in mind that the space shuttle is a glider — it lands without any engine power at all.

Gliding gives the pilots of small airplanes plenty of time to pick a safe landing spot. In our typical example, the pilot could pick a safe landing spot from more than 700 square miles of available countryside.

Accident vs. Incident

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aviation community classify aviation mishaps into two basic categories: accidents and incidents.

Incidents are like fender benders in a car. They don't include any substantial damage to the aircraft, and they don't involve any loss of life or serious injuries.

Accidents involve substantial damage to the aircraft and may result in fatalities or serious injuries.

The Most Common Types of Accidents

The historical pattern of General Aviation (GA) accidents has changed little in the modern era. While the number of accidents continues to decline to record-low levels, the most common types of accidents keep showing up in the same relative proportions.

36 percent of All Accidents: Descent & Landing

In order for an airplane to stop flying, it must return safely to the ground. Taking an airplane from being airborne and level at its cruise altitude to being tied back down at a parking spot involves five basic steps: descent, approach, landing, go-around (an aborted landing), and taxi. Taken as a group, these five stages of flight represent 36 percent of all accidents.

18 percent of All Accidents: Taxi & Takeoff

In order for an airplane to fly, it must leave the ground. Taking an airplane from being tied down at a parking spot to being airborne and level at its cruise altitude involves four basic steps: preflight, taxi, takeoff, and climbout. Taken as a group, these four stages of flight represent 18 percent of all accidents.

15 percent of All Accidents: Mechanical Problems

Airplanes are made of thousands of precision moving parts. The design, manufacturing, and maintenance standards used by GA are higher than in any other field, with the sole exception of space flight. In spite of GA's world-class standards, mechanical problems will crop up with every manmade machine. Mechanical problems account for 15 percent of all accidents.

10 percent of All Accidents: Fuel Mismanagement

All airplanes except for gliders use some type of fuel to power their engines. Airplanes can have very simple fuel systems with only one tank and no fuel pumps, or more complex fuel systems with multiple fuel tanks, pumps, and fuel selector switches. In addition, most aircraft require a specific type of fuel. Fuel mismanagement, such as running a tank dry, selecting an empty tank, using the wrong type of fuel, or running out of fuel, represents 10 percent of all accidents.

7 percent of All Accidents: Flight Maneuvers

While flying, an airplane must maneuver through the air by speeding up, slowing down, making turns, climbing, or descending. Pilots often practice various maneuvers to enhance their skills. All pilots, and particularly student pilots, spend time mastering specific maneuvers, including techniques for recovering from unusual attitudes. Taken as a group, maneuvering flight represents 7 percent of all accidents.

3 percent of All Accidents: Weather

The atmosphere is the ocean upon which all airplanes fly. And the atmosphere is a very dynamic, rapidly changing, and sometimes forceful place. There are times when pilots misjudge the weather they face. In the vast majority of these weather encounters, the pilot escapes by turning back, changing course, or landing early at another airport. Weather accounts for 3 percent of all accidents.

Flying Is Safe, But Not Without Risk

While all of these activities combine to make flying safe, they do not remove all traces of the risk inherent in flight. Pilots are taught good decision-making skills, and, along with everyone in aviation, they strive to continuously minimize the risk.

Your Personal Use of GA

When you see a small airplane in flight, think about the incredible level of expertise and the high standards that everyone involved in GA has had to prove and re-prove time and again in order to make that flight possible.

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	Also in this section:	• Standards for Pilots • Aircraft Maintenance	• Education & Training • When Things Go Wrong