That's the good part of GA risk. It is down to
you.
And simple things (like having some juice in the tanks) make a big difference to the
individual's risk profile.
I read all the accident reports I can, and like all of us try to take something "home" from each of them, but sadly there is nothing to take home from most of them.
However, what we really see is many peoples' crap PPL training coming through. They were OK so long as they stuck to sunny Sundays flying down the coast, but they could not handle anything more tricky. I still know pilots who have done far more hours than I have and who can't read tafs or metars.
Unfortunately the accident reports leave out what to me would be the really interesting stuff: the pilot's psychology, and his detailed flying history. That stuff
has to be relevant. Very occassionally, there is a crash where I happen to know a bit more of the background, and while this tends to throw up additional questions, it does provide a useful background.
Why do they call the Beechcraft Bonanza the Doctor Killer?
The problem with that description is that there is another side to it.
To make a manufacturing success in GA, one has to appeal to new, young, and wealthy pilots. It is no good trying to flog modern stuff to the old anoraks who make up most of GA - in the UK, USA or anywhere else.
But every time somebody tries this type of marketing (which is totally necessary) they end up killing a bunch of "doctors"
