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General Aviation News

New app released to increase GA safety

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Although safety of U.S. commercial air travel has improved significantly in recent years, the overall safety of general aviation hasn’t improved appreciably in several decades. A big reason for that disparity may be attributable to the limited availability of digital flight data to perform safety analysis.

Commercial aviation safety has improved in part because of the collection and analysis of data from commercial airlines, which are used to identify and address potential safety issues. However, such an archive does not yet exist for GA flights. The FAA is looking to change that.

“Most GA aircraft are not equipped to record digital flight data,” says MITRE group leader Matt Pollack. “And it would be prohibitively expensive for general aircraft owners to purchase that equipment. Without some way to collect data, it’s challenging for the GA community and FAA to identify and address safety issues that affect general aviation.”

Then MITRE’s researchers realized the answer might be right in the pilots’ hands. Enter the General Aviation Airborne Recording Device app — known as GAARD for short. [Read more…]

GAO study lauds data-driven approach to improving GA safety

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A comprehensive, independent examination of general aviation accident rates and FAA safety programs has validated the industry’s efforts to reduce risk in business aircraft operations, as well as the effectiveness of data-driven programs to identify specific areas for further safety improvement. According to a post at NBAA.org, the study explored the effectiveness of various FAA safety initiatives, pointing to the FAA’s General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) as one of the agency’s more promising efforts. Modeled on a similar program for the airline industry, the GAJSC studies accident and incident data from specific GA segments, and develops strategies to mitigate risks based on its findings. Read the whole post here.

Latest FAA Safety Briefing online

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The May/June 2012 issue of FAA Safety Briefing is now available online. The issue focuses on extreme weather. Articles provide tips on how to detect, prepare for, and avoid some of the more extreme varieties of weather conditions you may encounter in your region of the country. The issue also highlights several weather-related tools and resources for improving general aviation safety.

 

FAA Safety Briefing now online

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The March/April issue of FAA Safety Briefing is now available online. This issue focuses on the themes of the 3rd Annual FAA Safety Standdown: Loss of control accidents, aeronautical decision-making, and advanced preflight.

2012 FAASTeam Safety Standdown to debut at Sun ’n Fun

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The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee identified loss of control-inflight as the number one cause of fatal general aviation accidents over the last decade. Consequently, this year’s FAASTeam Safety Standdown offers a multi-layered approach to help pilots reduce the risk of an inflight loss of control.

[Read more…]