Avionics News April 2022 - 36

GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY
Continued from page 35
Looking at the graphs of overall accident trends and
For avionics repair stations, the Nall Report provides
insight on the challenges faced by their predominate
customers. Its online platform enables comparisons of
selected 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.
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 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
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.
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.
36 avionics news * april 2022
in 988 accidents. Of that number, 710 of them were
single-engine 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.
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
Avionics News April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2022
