Edition 48, August 2007

New privately operated aircraft safety study

A study just released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found about half of all accidents in privately operated fixed wing aircraft between 2001 and 2005 occured during the landing phase of flight.

Private flying operations in Australia cover a potentially diverse range of flying activities for personal use, including for travel, or as a business tool to support a variety of tasks including aerial mustering or aerial survey. At present, there are about 16,000 private pilot licence holders with a current medical certificate in Australia.

Approximately 90 per cent of private flying involves fixed-wing aircraft. However, over the last decade rotary-wing operations have become more common and now account for a larger proportion of flying activity than was the case just a few years earlier. The purpose of the report was to examine accident and fatal accident rates for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft engaged in private operations between 2001 and 2005.

Accident and fatal accident rates for private operations are among the highest for any general aviation activity. Rotary-wing aircraft generally have a higher accident rate than fixed-wing aircraft for general aviation, but this difference is less apparent when looking solely at private operations. The year 2005 was an exception, with rotary-wing accident rates for private operations increasing to more than three times the accident rate for fixed-wing aircraft.

The study also investigated accidents by phase of flight and accident type to determine similarities and differences between both aircraft types.

For more information visit www.atsb.gov.au or download the report from www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2007/pdf/B20070099.pdf

This page was generated on 18 February, 2010