Stall/spin accidents remain the single largest cause of fatalities and serious injuries in UK and US light aviation.
An article by John Thorpe, GASCo's Chief Executive, in their Winter 2003 edition of GASCo Flight Safety magazine, underlines the point.
There were 277 fatal accidents to UK registered aircraft of 5,700kg and less between 1980 and 1999, killing 483 people. Analysis of the many factors that contributed to all 277 accidents showed that under the heading 'Stretching the Limits', stall/spin was a factor in 37% of them; this was the highest percentage in the group. Similarly, in the 59 fatal microlight accidents that killed 72 people, stall/spin figures in 34%, a figure very similar to the aeroplane group. There is a clear message here.
Current PPL teaching focusses on spin avoidance, and there is undoubtedly some merit in arguing that, if you never get into a spin, then you don't need to practise recovering from it. However, this materially increases the risk of being unable to recover from an inadvertent spin; the spin CAN be disorientating, particularly at first, and being able to recite the recovery action in the comfort of a cosy crewroom is very different from doing it for real when the aeroplane is moving (perhaps violently) in an unfamiliar and unexpected manner.
A reader's letter in Flyer magazine last September illustrated this well. A student was on a GFT profile and mishandled a stall such that he entered a spin. He had seamlessly gone through the spin recovery procedure on the ground immediately before the flight but found that he was unable to do it in the air in his first ever spin. He was extremely grateful that the instructor, who had practiced spin recovery, was able to take over and deal with the situation.
Being confident and practiced in spin recovery does not make pilots bulletproof. But there are many situations where it can massively increase the odds in your favour. And, whisper it but quietly, that includes airline pilots, even on those aeroplanes where it is 'impossible' to exceed a certain angle of bank.