The EAA Homebuilt Aircraft Council (HAC) took on a major effort to look at the NTSB fatal accident in the US over thirteen years. A total of 682 accidents in involving Experimental aircraft in the US with at least one person killed. While the NTSB-published findings give insight into why the accident occurred, the Council members were looking beyond to determine what technological or training changes might have prevented the accident. This coming week, they plan to reveal many of their findings.
On Monday, HAC member Katie Bosman presented at Forum Stage 3 on the topic of Staying Alive: Preflight the Pilot. Mike Dooley, also a HAC member, spoke at the Homebuilders Hangar on Avoiding E-AB Loss of Power. The soon-to-be Chair of the HAC Dave Nelson will speak at 10:45 am on Thursday on Stayin’ Alive. They will reveal some of the interesting findings and insight their investigation provided. In addition, Nelson will be the featured speaker at the Technical Councilor and Flight Advisor Breakfast on Thursday morning. He will be addressing how findings from their study can inform the TCs and FAs to more effectively helped their builders and pilots.
Thirty-seven percent of the 682 accidents were stall and spin incidents. That means that more than 200 lives would likely have been saved if been saved if the pilot recognized the impending stall and reacted appropriately. The HAC believes that the use of angle of attack (AoA) indication systems and training to respond appropriately would have save those lives. Perhaps surprisingly, many of these accidents were on climb out when an engine stalled. So, in addition to adding AoA, training to respond quickly and appropriately to an engine-out on climbout (put the nose down to best glide!) should help lower the fatal accident rate.
Forty-five percent of these accidents were attributed to “deficiency of the pilot’s skill” or pilot error. More than 17% involved pilots with less than 10 hours in type and 2/3 of them were non-builder owners. Clearly, solid transition training is also a life-saver. To help address this concern, the EAA published The Non-Builder Owner’s Guide to Amateur-Built Aircraft and put it in front of their paywall. You can download it for free.
