Matt
This is from the CAA Safety Sense leaflet- Airmanship
a. There is an average of one fatal GA accident a month in the United Kingdom.
b. The main fatal accident causes during the last 20 years have been:
• continued flight into bad weather, including impact with high ground and loss of control in IMC
• loss of control in visual met conditions, including stall/spin
• low aerobatics and low flying
• mid-air collisions (sometimes each pilot knew the other was there)
• runway too short for the aircraft’s weight or performance
• colliding with obstacles, perhaps being too low on the approach
c. A high proportion of stall/spin fatal accident pilots were not in good flying practice.
d. Loss of control in flight is the major cause of fatal accidents in gliding and microlighting.
e. The main causes of twin-engined aircraft fatal accidents were:
• pressing on into bad weather (often to aerodromes with limited navigational facilities) resulting in controlled flight into terrain or loss of control IMC
• loss of control VFR particularly following engine failure
Cant see too many incidents above which do not fall into the pilot error or foolish behaviour category.
In the Safety Sense leaflet ITS YOUR DECISION it says;
A CAA study examined 166 fatal accidents to UK light aircraft. That review was published as CAP 667 ‘Review of General Aviation Fatal Accidents 1985 – 1994’, and this highlights some of the points made. Most accidents are the result of the pilot’s actions. This includes their skill level and, most important of all, the decisions that they make. This leaflet details some of the factors that can affect how the pilot’s decisions do – or don’t – keep the aircraft in one piece and the occupants safe.
During your PPL training you should have been introduced to these leaflets,
You will find them all listed at
http://www.caa.co.uk/application.asp...e=sercat&id=21
useful for self-appointed experts too.