Thursday, March 14, 2013

NTSB Safety Alerts Address General Aviation Safety Concerns

NTSB has issued a series of general aviation safety alerts that address the most frequent types of general aviation incidents. According to the agency, each year, about 475 pilots and passengers are killed and hundreds more are seriously injured in general aviation incidents in the U.S., putting general aviation on NTSB’s most wanted list.


The agency says that in many of the 1,500 incidents it investigates each year, pilots did not have adequate knowledge, skills or training to fly safely. An added concern is glass cockpit displays, which present a new layer of complications for general aviation pilots.

The safety alerts address low-altitude stalls, spatial disorientation, controlled flight into terrain, mechanical problems and risk mitigation. NTSB says it plans to release a video to accompany each alert, featuring air safety investigators sharing their experiences, observations and advice on how pilots and mechanics can avoid tragic mistakes.