EXPERIMENTAL AMATEUR-BUILT SURVEY: TECHNICAL REVIEW
THROUGHOUT 2011, EAA and the NTSB
conducted a survey of experimental
amateur-built (E-AB) aircraft to evaluate
the safety of this growing and innovative
segment of general aviation. Last month,
EAA’s Doug Macnair and David Oord
met with the NTSB in Washington, D.C.,
to review survey results and a draft
safety study.
EAA supported the study by
conducting a Web-based survey of E-AB
owners and builders. More than 5,000
E-AB owners and builders responded
to EAA’s survey, and 4,923 of these
responses were sufficiently complete
to use in analyses.
As part of the study, NTSB
investigators conducted in-depth
investigations of 221 E-AB aircraft
accidents that occurred during
2011. Fifty-four of these accidents
resulted in 67 fatalities. Most
of these accidents ( 93 percent)
involved amateur-built airplanes;
the remaining accidents involved
gyroplanes ( 4 percent), helicopters
( 2 percent), and gliders ( 1 percent).
More than half ( 53 percent) of
the E-AB accidents investigated
in 2011 involved E-AB aircraft
that were purchased used, as
opposed to having been built by
the current owner.
The final safety study, along with
recommendations to improve safety,
is scheduled to be released in May.
EAA REPORT TO HOMEBUILDERS
THE ANNUAL EAA REPORT to Homebuilders was released in March,
giving the GA community a broad overview of the amateur-built
aircraft fleet, updates on safety, and the resources available
through EAA to those who are building their own aircraft.
The eight-page report includes comprehensive facts, charts,
and other data that clarifies the homebuilt movement and the
true safety record of these aircraft.
“The EAA Report to Homebuilders highlights the
achievements of the past year, as well as the opportunities
and challenges ahead of us,” EAA
President/CEO Rod Hightower
said in the introductory note to
this year’s edition.
SAFETY—EVERYONE HAS A STAKE
Sean Elliott, EAA Vice President of Advocacy and Safety
THE FAA WILL TELL
you that safety is
a culture, one that
is embraced and
engrained in the
best pilots. The
FAA-designed
safety management
systems (SMS) of
today certainly
support that philosophy with tools that
reinforce those concepts. Within the EAA
community, I would offer that EAA and its
membership have the opportunity to take
safety to an even higher level, that of a
lifestyle. More than just using safety tools,
if we are going to truly improve the safety
record within our segment of aviation,
we have to reach the unreachable. That
means each of us seeking the lifestyle
behaviors that reflect safe operations and
actively influencing those who do not.
In this issue of Sport Aviation, you
will find some information that might
help with the quest to be safe. One of
them is an excellent analysis of fatal
accidents within the amateur-built
(AB) aircraft world. EAA member Ron
Wanttaja has made a in-depth analysis
of trends and causal factors based on
his own decade-long database of every
amateur-built accident. His conclusions
are certainly a basis for discussion and
offer a well-documented perspective as
we continue to study ways to enhance
safety in homebuilt aircraft.
Let’s not forget EAA’s existing
programs and support materials that
greatly contribute to safe flight. Certainly
the Flight Advisor and Technical
Counselor programs continue to show
builders and would-be test pilots how to
approach the tasks at hand in the most
professional and safe way possible. Even
if you are not planning a first flight, Flight
Advisor guidance can be great for getting
you much more knowledgeable with your
airplane.
