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We Need to Build Faster

Piper J3

Well Known Member
I get Kathryn’s Report in my inbox every two to three days. I can’t believe how many airplanes/helicopters are getting bent and bruised each day. I don’t think GA manufacturers are keeping up with the rate of carnage…
 
I find it ironic the front page of VAF today has a thread on both how expensive insurance is getting to be and also how many planes get crunched, it almost as if the two might be related, until somebody just blames "lawyers"
 
I find it ironic the front page of VAF today has a thread on both how expensive insurance is getting to be and also how many planes get crunched, it almost as if the two might be related, until somebody just blames "lawyers"

Hmmm, lawyers flying airplanes (badly) perhaps?
 
Crash less.

My thought reading this thread is that instead of building faster, we should look for ways to crash less.

What are the top 3 reasons GA aircraft crash? Once we identify the what, we can start looking at the how and why. The why being "why did the pilots make the decision that led to an accident?" Then it's up to each of us to avoid falling into the traps that led the accident pilots into making the decisions that resulted in a crash.

It's a bit trickier in GA since the NTSB (or your national investigation authority) doesn't usually look too deep like they do with airliners.
 
I find it ironic the front page of VAF today has a thread on both how expensive insurance is getting to be and also how many planes get crunched, it almost as if the two might be related, until somebody just blames "lawyers"
You know the personal injury legal system is perverted.... You can't watch over the air local TV and not see way too many personal injury wrongful death lawyer commercials. Tort law is an abomination and why in part medical, car and plane insurance is high.... in part. The other part is insurance companies are greedy and are for profit companies... i.e., take in way more money than they pay out... I am a capitalist and free market guy (with regulations to avoid abuse) but it's not perfect. Personal aviation is so small it does not have the competition or political pull. If you own a plane you are looked at as "them", the rich. They don't understand we made our planes with sweat equity. The lawyer and insurance companies have lots of lobbyist as well... No sure what regulation there is on personal plane insurance, federal and or state... I am sure there are regulations but price is market driven. Again small special market with apparently higher loss?
 
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My thought reading this thread is that instead of building faster, we should look for ways to crash less.

What are the top 3 reasons GA aircraft crash? Once we identify the what, we can start looking at the how and why. The why being "why did the pilots make the decision that led to an accident?" Then it's up to each of us to avoid falling into the traps that led the accident pilots into making the decisions that resulted in a crash.

It's a bit trickier in GA since the NTSB (or your national investigation authority) doesn't usually look too deep like they do with airliners.

Absolutely the right approach! To answer your own questions, go to the Kitplanes website and search for any and all articles by Ron Wanttaja - he has probably the best personal database of Experimental (and GA accidents of anyone I know, and has written extensively on the actual causes of crashes, not just the statistics.

Numbers do nothing to help us “not crash” - asking “why” is the key. And a hint - it is generally poor piloting/decision making that is the number one problem....

Paul
 
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