TY - JOUR
T1 - A comparison of special category light-sport and corresponding type-certificated aircraft safety
AU - Anderson, Carolina
AU - Stolzer, Alan
AU - Boyd, Douglas D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council
PY - 2018/9
Y1 - 2018/9
N2 - Introduction: The special category light sport airplane (light sport) sector of general aviation has grown 10-fold in as many years with solo operations requiring only a sports pilot's certificate. With little research on light sport airplane safety, the study objective was to compare light sport and type-certificated airplane accident rates. Method: Accidents were identified from the National Transportation Safety Board database. Statistics employed Poisson distribution/proportion analyses/Mann–Whitney U-tests. Results: For the 2009–2015 period, the light sport airplane accident rate (fatal/non-fatal combined) was > 15-fold higher than comparable type-certificated aircraft, undiminished over time. The excessive light sport airplane accident rate was associated with inferior airman experience (time-in-type, certification). Mishaps were most frequent during landing (40%) and, of these, nearly half were due to a deficiency in the flare. There were a dis-proportionate number of trainees involved in landing accidents compared with mishaps for other phases of operations. Conclusion: Towards improving safety, additional light sport training with emphasis on landings and a focus on the flare and directional control is warranted. Practical application: In the confines of the present study considering that landing mishaps, the most common accident cause, are often related to deficiencies in the flare and loss-of-directional control, instructors should ensure that airmen have mastered these aspects of landing and, for trainees, acquired the appropriate visual monocular cues.
AB - Introduction: The special category light sport airplane (light sport) sector of general aviation has grown 10-fold in as many years with solo operations requiring only a sports pilot's certificate. With little research on light sport airplane safety, the study objective was to compare light sport and type-certificated airplane accident rates. Method: Accidents were identified from the National Transportation Safety Board database. Statistics employed Poisson distribution/proportion analyses/Mann–Whitney U-tests. Results: For the 2009–2015 period, the light sport airplane accident rate (fatal/non-fatal combined) was > 15-fold higher than comparable type-certificated aircraft, undiminished over time. The excessive light sport airplane accident rate was associated with inferior airman experience (time-in-type, certification). Mishaps were most frequent during landing (40%) and, of these, nearly half were due to a deficiency in the flare. There were a dis-proportionate number of trainees involved in landing accidents compared with mishaps for other phases of operations. Conclusion: Towards improving safety, additional light sport training with emphasis on landings and a focus on the flare and directional control is warranted. Practical application: In the confines of the present study considering that landing mishaps, the most common accident cause, are often related to deficiencies in the flare and loss-of-directional control, instructors should ensure that airmen have mastered these aspects of landing and, for trainees, acquired the appropriate visual monocular cues.
KW - General aviation
KW - General aviation accident
KW - Light sport aircraft
KW - SLSA
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jsr.2018.06.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jsr.2018.06.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 30121116
AN - SCOPUS:85049451862
SN - 0022-4375
VL - 66
SP - 95
EP - 99
JO - Journal of Safety Research
JF - Journal of Safety Research
ER -