Many of today’s recommendations from the NTSB’s most-wanted list for safety improvements apply to general aviation, along with other modes of transport — reducing impairment from operator fatigue and alcohol, expanding the use of recorders to help document the causes of accidents, stronger structural protection for passengers and eliminating distractions. But the board singled out GA for one most-wanted improvement, as it has for several years — loss of control. “Nearly half of all general aviation accidents are caused by loss of control in flight,” the NTSB said. “To prevent unintended departures from flight and better manage stalls, pilots need more training and a better awareness of the technologies that can help prevent these tragedies.”
Better training on how to eliminate distraction, avoid stalls and manage weather issues will put pilots in control and give them better command of their outcomes, the safety board said. The board said it based its recommendations on accident data from 2008 to 2014. The most-wanted list for safety improvements, which has traditionally been an annual event, now will extend for two years, the board said this week. The video below explains the concerns behind the NTSB’s 2017-2018 most-wanted list.
