Is general aviation getting safer? What is the biggest killer of pilots? These questions and more are answered in the AOPA Safety Foundation’s 2005 Nall Report.
According to the latest report, which compiles accident trends in 2004, GA safety continued to improve that year. The number of total fixed wing accidents was 1,413, down from 1,514 in 2003. The report also indicated that the most dangerous time for a pilot is between zero to 500 hours of experience. It declines steadily until it reaches the 4,000 mark, then spikes again.
Weather is still the biggest killer of pilots, be it a VFR pilot stumbling into instrument conditions or a multiengine aircraft trying to penetrate a thunderstorm.