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Things To Know About General Aviation Procedures

by michaelbarrows
Things To Know About General Aviation Procedures

General aviation means all aviation activities other than civil and military airlines. The activities comprise recreational and general aviation emergency procedures, business, tourism, flight training, traffic reporting, search and rescue, firefighting, dust control, and logging. General aviation includes small propeller aircraft, helicopters, business jets, gliders, and amateur-built aircraft. The United States has approximately 228,000 active private pilots and 220,000 registered general aviation airplanes. General aviation is becoming safer and safer. However, the frequency of accidents through 2018 has remained unchanged for four years: about 1,200 accidents and 200 fatalities per year.

However, the flight time-adjusted accident rate has decreased 13% over the past five years. That is reassuring, but such calculations rely heavily on “time of flight,” which is infamously noisy. The overall rate will grab most of the headlines, especially for those looking to bring general aviation to a broader audience. Still, for active pilots, the details are much more beneficial. In particular, there is a lot to learn from looking at non-commercial fixed-wing aircraft, the kind most airplane and pilot readers do, and where, unfortunately, most accidents happen.

How dangerous is flying through general aviation?

There are 16 fatalities per million hours in general aviation. Therefore, if a plane crashes and someone dies, it is reasonably safe to assume that everyone on board will die. You can use this statistic as before because not all occupants die in traffic accidents. The stats apply to the people in the vehicle,  not the vehicle. Considering that the average plane achieves ground speeds of at least 100 miles per hour, its 1 million flight hours allow its crew to travel over 100 million miles of terrain. Comparing the 16 fatal crashes to the 1.7 driving rates, we see that flying is less than ten times more dangerous per kilometer traveled. And since most accidents occur during takeoff or landing, modern fast and light aircraft that travel longer distances are comparable to automobiles in terms of safety.

You can also check your safety per hour. The safety checking makes sense for a recreational pilot who has the option of flying for a few hours or spending that time cruising. If the average speed of driving a car is 50 miles per hour, then 1.7 fatalities happen in 2 million hours of driving time. As per the above figures, general aviation is about 20 times more dangerous per hour than driving, resulting in 16 deaths per million hours.

Risk Management

General aviation airplanes are much easier to manage risk than cars. You remain constantly at the mercy of other drivers when you are in your vehicle. A toast is given when the 18-wheeler crosses the yellow line. Pilots rarely issue traffic, except in the immediate vicinity of busy airports. If you get injured or die, it is because something went wrong with your aircraft or you accidentally flew it to the ground.

According to 2018 statistics, 47% of pilot-related accidents occur at this stage. Luckily 99% of them are not lethal, but they destroy planes, shake confidence, and raise the premiums for all of us. Also, it would be wise to ignore these “fender benders” as they are becoming more common nowadays.

A landing accident often means loss of control, runway excursion, or a ground loop. In general aviation, tail-wheeled aircraft are disproportionately represented here. Stalls have the second most common landing accidents, followed by hard landings; relatively few are due to minor or polluted runways.

Comparison among pilots

A pilot of any skill level can become a safe pilot. The real question is, “What is the relationship between a pilot’s confidence and skill level?” A person who got his flying license yesterday and only flies a general aviation plane when the wind is calm and the skies are clear is probably safer than someone who retired from flying Air Force jets and thinks he is going with his approach. This minimum can handle tremendous wind gusts and instruments. Experienced pilots can fly specific missions more safely. But if two pilots can make a go-or-no-go decision about their cross-country flight in bad weather. There is a possibility that the inexperienced pilot will wait a day and have less risk overall.

Role of airlines

How can airlines keep their flight schedules and safety records perfect? ​​Passenger planes are equipped with jet engines that can outperform most weather conditions, allowing them to fly through clouds. Airlines do not spend much time on de-icing equipment for ascent or descent through clouds in sub-zero temperatures, which can freeze the wings. In front of the airliner, two pilots fly only instrument approaches all day.

Commercial aircraft typically depart from significant airports with instrument landing systems and radar-equipped controllers. Nothing is offered for private pilots using small, single-engine piston aircraft, especially when flying to a favorite airport off the beaten track. A safe flight attitude for light aircraft begins with the assumption that there are no flights at the scheduled date and time. It can happen when the weather is excellent and the flight looks fun. Airplanes, in general aviation, are recreational toys with transportation as a side benefit.

An approach that must be followed

Approaching and descents are next on the list of the most common causes of pilot-related accidents. And these are on the rise, reaching their highest levels in a decade. Stall/spin scenarios account for the fatal accidents. But takeoff and climb phases had more stall accidents than descents or approach phases. Another threat to consider is collisions. Collision is the cause of most accidents at this stage of the overall flight. It is a reminder that it takes a standard procedure and an outward eye, perhaps even a little bit of paranoia. To get into the pattern at an airport without a tower. It’s also important to remember to keep this in mind if you have a traffic awareness display. Maneuvering a flight may not mean what you think. The open wires and terrain were involve in more than half of the accidents. And almost half of the aircraft in these accidents were tail tow tractors. And this include “bush pilots” goofing off at low altitude.

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