There is an interesting article in Flying this month.
The article examines the safety record of private pilots in the US.
In spite of the various initiatives of the FAA (and doubtless other regulatory authorities which have followed a similiar path) there has been little improvement in the flight safety of private pilots whereas there has been a marked improvement in CAT flight safety.
We might all assume that advanced training, experience, perhaps an instrument rating etc all contribute to making us a safer pilot. Certainly there is some evidence that the safety record in the Cirrus has improved as a result of insurance companies insisting on more training in the States.
The largest insurance company in the States (which only insurers private pilots and the lighter end of the market) would seem to have found otherwise.
It would seem in terms of avoiding fatal accidents (and the most serious) attitude is the most important factor; having the right attitude does not seem to stem (at least directly) from training, experience, etc.
It would seem that some of us are just very good at handling "emergencies". We are able to prioritise, ignore distractions, and make informed decisions. Others, in spite of 1,000 of hours, are not.
Interestingly "showing off" would also seem to be a significant contributor to accidents - more happen when there are passengers aboard, than when there are not.
Further on in the same edition there is a good analysis of the Colgan 3407 tragedy - which interestingly may illustrate some of these features where even a commercial pilot has failed to react "well" in an emergency situation.
YouTube - Colgan Flight 3407 NTSB Animation of Buffalo Accident Q400
In this instance the pilot was flying a coupled approach; because there was a very small amount of ice build the autopilot had been triggered to disengage at a slightly higher speed than normal. The autopilot duly disengaged, took the pilot unexpectedly, who then reacted to the stick shaker by pulling the nose up. Sadly the aircraft stalled. The accident would seem to be entirely attributable to a mis handled stall not occasioned by any mechanical defect. Depsite the commanders considerable flight hours there was evidence that he was not all that good at reacting under the pressure of an unexpected sequence of events.
Maybe a interesting debate will follow for the bank holiday.
