Study of Flight School Pilot Incident Data: Implication for Educators

Abstract

Flight training presents some of the most dangerous times in a pilots flying career. Lack of experience, decision-making abilities and youth can create a recipe for a potential disaster. The majority of pilots complete their training at an established flight school. A collegiate aviation department or a Fixed Base Operator can operate these flight schools. In both situations, there are associated risk factors. This study was completed to identify aircraft incidents that occurred with pilots who were piloting flight school aircraft and to thereby identify possible training weaknesses. The researcher utilized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS), Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS) to obtain 397 aircraft incidents that occurred at flight schools from January 1978 to July 2007. The incidents were broken down based on the highest pilot certificate held by the pilot; incident categories were established, and then incidents were tabulated in order to generate descriptive statistics. Meaningful data was derived under each of the pilot certificates and recommendations were made to improve safety.