Big report by 'USA Today' on GA safety

[Garfly]

Posted on AOPA's 'AVIATION eBRIEF' today :

 

USA Today report "extremely flawed," AOPA says

 

A USA Today story, "Unfit for flight," published today gets the general aviation safety record wrong, it ignores efforts by the industry to make general aviation safer, and it violates basic tenets of fairness and accuracy when it comes to good journalism, AOPA said in response to the article. AOPA Online.

 

USA Today report:

 

http://www.usatoday.com/longform/news/nation/2014/06/12/lies-coverups-mask-roots-small-aircraft-carnage-unfit-for-flight-part-1/10405323/

 

AOPA response:

 

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2014/June/18/USA-Today-report-extremely-flawed-AOPA-says.aspx

 

 

[sain]

It could have been more effective if AOPA had used the article's statistics against it.

 

45,000 deaths over 50 years = 900 deaths per year. 2013 had 347 deaths, or 553 less than what could be expected, based on the historical figures. That is clearly indicative of a significant improvement in saftey over the period.

 

Anybody know what the GA and RA figures were like for Aus for 2013? I've got a feeling it was a particularly bad year, but not as bad as the Americans apparently had.

 

 

[sain]

interesting main article, and we'll worth a read.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

So they didn't mention the car death rate at all? It equals the 50 year total every year and that doesn't include the injured to the tune of 3 million per year (half of those injuries being permanent).

 

Sure flying has it's risks but stop using it as a smoke screen for bigger issues elsewhere.

 

 

[nickduncs84]

Words can't describe how much I hate the media. Such dribble. No wonder the general public are so scared of small planes. I wonder what percentage of ga accidents are the cause of poor decision making. Ie vfr into imc, engine failure over terrain you can't glide clear of, fuel exhaustion, etc. In my opinion, those crashes are completely avoidable if you want them to be. Flying errors and mental errors in flight are a risk, no matter how much we would like to think that we are all above it, but poor decisions on the ground cause way too many accidents and are completely avoidable.

 

Saying that the ga accident rate is equal to the probability you will die in a plane crash is as dumb as saying the same thing about motorbikes and cars. The reality is you will always be the biggest risk factor and you have control over more than you think. Do you think the likelihood of someone dying on a motorbike is the same for the guy cruising through the city at 60kmh as it is for the guy winding through the hills at 160kmh?

 

Aviation attracts more thrillseekers than the population average, which goes a long way to explain the high fatality rate. That being said, there are plenty of very risk averse pilots who do everything they can to avoid putting themselves in a bad situation in the first place.

 

Sorry for the rant, but I'm sick of the useless media looking at a bowl of fruit and calling it an apple. For those who aren't pilots, it's more important to know who you are flying with than what you are flying in.

 

 

[Ignition]

I wonder what percentage of ga accidents are the cause of poor decision making.

http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/AVwebInsider_AccidentCause-207911-1.html

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Whatever you do in life it all comes down to paying your money and taking youse chances.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

The reality is you will always be the biggest risk factor and you have control over more than you think. .

I'm in absolute awe of 'Head In The Clouds' having 52(?) forced landings!! - a tribute to your proffering there.

 

 

[sain]

well, much as I hate the press, there were actually some pretty reasonable points in there about Aircraft manufacturers being aware of major faults, and not moving to resolve them. This has resulted in needless deaths on a number of occassions with occupants burning to death after a survivable crash.

 

I'm not sure what you can actually do to the companies in cases like that, other than make a habit of jailing their CEOs, board members and anybody within the company who was aware of the issue and didn't take action. Punitive damages that occur in the states don't seem to be having all that much impact.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

...make a habit of jailing their CEOs, board members and anybody within the company who was aware of the issue and didn't take action...

They must learn that with the big bucks come big responsibilities.

 

 

[Bandit12]

Whatever you do in life it all comes down to paying your money and taking youse chances.

Except these days it is more like you pays your money and someone else does their best to take your chances away anyway, while still taking your money.....sadly the quality of aviation legislative decision making seems to be sinking to the level of firearm legislative decision making.

 

 

[Garfly]

An angry American flyer/writer blogs back on Huff Post:

 

"Unfit for Publication: How USA Today Got Everything Wrong"

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-schweitzer/unfit-for-publication-how_b_5509253.html

 

 

 

[ayavner]

wankers...

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I'm in absolute awe of 'Head In The Clouds' having 52(?) forced landings!! - a tribute to your proffering there.

Wow i thought i was up there with 47 real failures.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

Wow i thought i was up there with 47 real failures.

Bloody hell, that's scary enough!

 

Mind you I drive in Chinese traffic everyday, let nothing surprise you and never panic.

 

 

[Yenn]

Deaths in GA continue, when they should have been sorted years ago. recently, five died in a parachute plane crash. It turns out that the cause of the crash was a Cessna seat sliding back. I started flying Cessnas in 1968 and knew about that fault then, so for later planes to have the same seat arrangement is just bad news. They still do. To have a seat slide back under you is just plain bad preparation for flight. So some of the deaths are because of bad aircraft, but most of them are probably bad decision making.ie poor piloting.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Bloody hell, that's scary enough!Mind you I drive in Chinese traffic everyday, let nothing surprise you and never panic.

That's the secret, Don't Panic. Actually this placarded in the cockpit in large friendly letters would be more beneficial than the stupid MTOW one that grounded most of us last year.

 

 

[poteroo]

Deaths in GA continue, when they should have been sorted years ago. recently, five died in a parachute plane crash. It turns out that the cause of the crash was a Cessna seat sliding back. I started flying Cessnas in 1968 and knew about that fault then, so for later planes to have the same seat arrangement is just bad news. They still do. To have a seat slide back under you is just plain bad preparation for flight. So some of the deaths are because of bad aircraft, but most of them are probably bad decision making.ie poor piloting.

Spot on! The company that I flew with between 1966 and 1970 had 8 x C180 and C185 types - and every last one of them had a company designed set of seat rail pins which prevented further aft movement of seats beyond a preset location. I find it difficult to understand how any Cessna owner doesn't know about seat unlocking during takeoff after some 50 years. This especially when LAME's check seats for locking security at every annual or 100hrly, and advise immediately the holes become so 'belled out' that seats unlock. It appears to me that owners would be well advised to firstly, have seat rail holes checked, fit such rail locks, add the information to the POH, add it to the company preflight checklist, and placard it near the Master Switch. Don't rely on the manufacturer to advise you - because you, as the owner or pilot, are expected to exercise due care and regard, and as a consequence, will be the one who is held liable .

 

happy days,