Who is 8 times more likely to die in an airplane crash?

[mike_elliott]

The good news is, probably no one reading this thread.  There’s a study almost ready for publication that looks at the safety records of pilots who participate in type club activities, forums, additional training etc. against pilots in the same type of aircraft that don’t.  It should come as no surprise that pilots who are part of type clubs and type club activities are far safer, both in overall accidents and fatalities.

 

This makes perfect sense.  One of the major pillars of well-established and highly successful aviation safety management systems (SMS) is learning through sharing and having a proactive feedback loop that allows questions to be answered before a dangerous situation is encountered.  In GA there isn’t a universal SMS that pilots can use and type clubs have stepped in to fill this gap.  Two of the leaders in this area are the American Bonanza Society and Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association. 

 

The Mooney community is a bit more fragmented.  That’s not to say Mooney pilots don’t have resources but it’s not as well organized as it might be.  We have MOA, MAPA, Mooneyflier, and of course MooneySpace.  Each one of these organizations is doing good work, but there’s no single point repository for Safety and Educational information.

 

To help in this regard I asked the MooneySpace administrator to build a place for Safety and Technique so members can post articles or links to video’s that specifically discuss Mooney safety related topics and techniques for safe flying. 

 

If you have Safety related information that you’d like to share, please down load your articles into the Safety and Technique folder and help the Mooney community share information and be safer.

Great idea George. The Mooney Summit's mission "to better the breed" is focused exactly on this while providing a highly social venue for the non flying spouse. It has been found those that participate in the FAA wings program are far less likely to be involved in an incident, accident or violated. The Mooney Summit wants to take this, and the AOPA's air safety institute's great concepts and records a step further with specifity to Mooney pilotage. We want Mooney Pilots  to be known as "the best GA pilots" not the "cheapest GA pilots" It is why I contribute articles to the Mooney Flyer, spend countless hours on the Mooney Summit, volunteer as a FAASteam rep and as an AOPA ASN.

 

Let me share that the Mooney Summit III will be in Panama City Beach next Oct 1-4. The list of Subject Matter Experts will blow you away, and that our own George Perry is on that list. Welcome George, we appreciate the generosity of sharing your time and expertise!

 

Fly Safe

Mike

[John Pleisse]

There is no significant difference between the ABS's, COPA's and MSF's approach. Participation and the total number of clinics offered differ. Mooney clinics by a third less. There are nearly equal numbers of Mooney and Cirrus A/C's, but nearly twice as many Bonanzas. Beech is also supported by a healthy twin contingent. I have attended both Mooney and Beech PPP's....in terms of content, presentation and thoroughness, they are identical. They are equally fraternal. So it is participation.

 

Clearly FAA regulation for minimal proficiency may be a bit paltry. AOPA constantly fights to curb cumbersome regulation. It's a fair correlation. If the FAA woke up one day and decided to double down on proficiency standards, AOPA would be the largest of only a handful of organizations seeking to stop them. Could our current safety state be a labyrinth of (our) AOPA's own doing? Help me George. It's a fair question.

 

BTW, George gave several of us Mooney Pilots a tour of AOPA. It was fun and informative. George gave a great talk on his new purpose and I was really impressed.

 

My suggestion? Greater insurance regulation and protection (through incentive). This works well for people who are required hefty recurrent training flying higher performance a/c's....they stick to it and many are well trained, leaving most fatals to lower time, hardly qualified pilots. Nothing like the almighty dollar to get people off their butts.

[Flymu2]

 

My suggestion? Greater insurance regulation and protection (through incentive). This works well for people who are required hefty recurrent training flying higher performance a/c's....they stick to it and many are well trained, leaving most fatals to lower time, hardly unqualified pilots. Nothing like the almighty dollar to get people off their butts.

 

The best current example of the effect of increased training standards is the MU2 SFAR. The accident rate was abysmal prior to the SFAR. Since implementation there have been exactly 2 fatal accidents in about 7 years. Both occurred in circumstances where the airplane was operated contrary to SFAR standards.

 

The SFAR requires a minimum number of training hours, flying 26 different profiles, and testing to commercial pilot PTS standards. It is illegal to even touch the controls of an MU2 in flight without having completed SFAR training, unless you're actually doing the training. If one can't fly the airplane to the commercial PTS then no MU2 flying.

 

Imagine if such a program was instituted for Bonanzas and Mooneys. In fact, Cirrus redid their training program within the last year, and the accident rate has plummeted. As it stands now one cannot get insurance for a Cirrus without completing the Cirrus transition program.

 

This approach may not be applicable to all of GA, but would likely significantly reduce the accident rate if applied to higher performances planes.

[John Pleisse]

 

 

Imagine if such a program was instituted for Bonanzas and Mooneys. In fact, Cirrus redid their training program within the last year, and the accident rate has plummeted. As it stands now one cannot get insurance for a Cirrus without completing the Cirrus transition program.

 

 

 

 

Correct, but let us not forget how abysmal Cirrus' record was around 2007. They had a high-roller problem. Lower time purchasers flooded their ranks and the accident rate was so off the charts, some insurance underwriters wanted $10k per year for average time PP' for SR-22 transition. The problem wasn't the planes, but the pilots. In fact those high rates not only affected Cirrus, but the entire used market at the time. It's good they OH'ed their program...they needed it. Advanced cockpits with a slicker airfoil. 

 

Totally onboard with SFAR. Good idea.

[Flymu2]

The problem wasn't the planes, but the pilots.

True regardless of the nameplate.