On Flying My Own Plane

Posted on | July 13, 2007 | Comments Off on On Flying My Own Plane

I live near a little private airport. And every once in awhile, I think about what it might be like to pilot a little plane, taking off, floating up there in peace, bringing the plane in for a perfect landing.

But then I look at the facts. There are about 228,000 of those type of pilots in the U.S. and about 220,000 of those types of aircraft — 93% fixed wing planes, 4% helicopters and 3% gliders. They crash about 1,600 times a year and kill about 6,000 Americans annually ( which is 94% of all of our aircraft fatalities each year). The little planes kill 1.31 people per 100,000 flight hours, which is 82 times more carnage than seen with commercial airlines. Their smaller size, lower altitude, non-uniform instrument status, and variable pilot skill levels make them more vulnerable to changing weather conditions.

If you learn to fly after the age of 25 and do not have instrument rating, you are 4 times more likely to die in a crash than are your amateur peers. Finally, small plane crashes involve pilot error 85% of the time.

If you need more information and details, see JAMA, April 11, 2007: 297:14, p1596 – 1598.