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Feature Article: General Aviation Statistics
Only three out of every 1000 people in the US are pilots.
Out of 67,000 licensed instructors in the U. s. only 15,000 are
active.
Only 6% of the U.S. women are pilots.
1998 in the United States and its territories, 43,920 people
died in transportation-related accidents. Aviation accounted
for 683 deaths, with 621 of them in GA.
Bicyclists, recreational boaters, and people walking in front
of trains notched 794, 808, and 831 fatalities, respectively.
Women pilots threaten some men's macho identity. Some men think
that they are losing status by sharing the skies with mere women.
I have found the women pilots I have taught to be better, over
all, than the men.
Sayings:
Plan for the worst and ask for ATC help up front.
The best way to hurry up is to slow down.
Best way to learn is by doing or by not doing, something
General Aviation has 98% of the planes flying 80% of the hours
flown.
General Info
Less than 1% of aircraft accidents, caused primarily by fire,
result in fatalities. Fires in aircraft are a rarity. The most
dangerous aspect of an inflight fire is the pilot who reacts
incorrectly by not following the POH.
60% of fatal accidents are the result of improper decisions;
20% are the result of improper technique.
30% if all accidents are the result of flight into IMC conditions.
300,000 planes in 1980
190,000 planes in 2000..Oh, where have all the airplanes gone?
Gone, gone, gone?
On average there is one operational error by ATC out of every
200,000 performed.
Only 98 back-course approaches exist in the U.S.
Homebuilt aircraft fly five percent of total flight hours
but have 25 percent of maintenance accidents.
Decision making by the pilot is judged to be the direct casue
of 85-percent of aircraft accidents.
1996 Statistic
23% of accidents were related to weather. Of these 8% gave icing
as a cause.
Pilot population peaked at 827,000 in 1980. In 1999 we are
at 635,000 and only 5% are women.
On average there are only two SVFR accidents per year but
the fatality rate is over 80%. Over 60% of the accidents occur
on departure. 30% result in flight into rising terrain.
67% of all pilot violations have to do with airspace deviations
68% of all runway incursions are caused by G.A. pilots.
Since 1993 we have had a 73% increase in near misses in the
U. S. but only a 1l% increase in activity.
The Katana promises to the the safest trainer ever.
The C-172 is equally safe
#l accident area is loss of aircraft control on the runway
but incurrs few fatalities..
Only one ourt of every ten engine failures result in a fatal
accident.
VFR into IFR percentage-wise kills the most.
very high percentate of fuel exhaustion accidents occur within
one mile of destination airport.
One in five of Piper Cherokee accidents occur due to fuel problems.
Fatal accident rate of Piper Warrior is significantly worse
than other trainers.
One in five of Tomahawk accidents are stall related.
Last Modified January 14, ©2026 TAGE.COM