Abid
--- In southeast-trikers@yahoogroups.com, "James" <james@...> wrote:
This is from an article that appeared in my local EAA Chapter newsletter in September.
James
The FAA and NTSB recently released preliminary safety numbers that suggest the safety of Light Sport Aircraft (LSAs) is substantially better than that of amateur-built airplanes, though not as good as conventionally certificated (Part 23) airplanes.
Taken alone, the LSA fatal accident picture doesn't sound good. As of late spring, there had been 39 fatal LSA accidents (with 49 total fatalities). Of those fatals, 12 were in S-LSAs, meaning that nearly one out of every 100 S-LSAs has been involved in a fatal accident. Of those 39 total fatal wrecks (E-LSA and S-LSA combined), 54 percent were due to loss of control. Ten percent were due to structural failure. The numbers do suggest that the factory-built LSAs are faring much better than their kit-built counterparts.
In terms of the conventional safety matrix, LSAs are stacking up to be more than twice as risky (in terms of fatal accidents) as personal Part 23 airplanes (with professionally flown airplanes being twice as safe as that). The fatal rate per 100,000 hours flown for LSAs is, according to the FAA, just over five per 100,000 hours. The personally flown rate is just over two fatals per 100,000 flight hours.
More interesting is a particular trend that has emerged from the NTSB study. Pilots who are learning to fly in LSAs seem to be having fewer, not more, loss of control accidents than more experienced pilots transitioning from larger, faster, heavier airplanes. At a safety summit hosted by and reported on by the EAA earlier this year, Harris Hooper, an FAA safety manager, noted that stall-spin accidents in both amateur-built and LSA aircraft have caused the highest number of fatal accidents and that pilots transitioning from conventional GA aircraft to LSAs are involved in more fatal LSA accidents than are newly trained sport pilots.
The problem, according to Dan Johnson, chairman of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA), a trade group representing LSA makers, is in training. Johnson thinks that experienced pilots don't like to think that transitioning to a smaller, slower and lighter airplane will be challenging, though it invariably is. He pointed to the very light airplanes' faster acceleration, shorter takeoff rolls and steeper climb angles, and greater susceptibility to gusts as presenting particular challenges to pilots making the move to LSAs from larger airplanes.
--- End forwarded message ---
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