The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association 33rd edition of\nthe AOPA Air Safety Institute Accident Report\u2014retitled the Richard G. McSpadden\nReport\u2014covers calendar year 2021. The report was renamed in honor and memory of\nour beloved friend and colleague who tragically lost his life in an airplane\naccident on October 1, in Lake Placid, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report\u2019s accident data are updated on a rolling 30-day\ncycle allowing for the most current snapshot of general aviation safety\nperformance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report notes an increase in total accidents from 1,050\nin 2020 to 1,124 in 2021. However, four million additional flight\nhours\u2014compared to the previous year\u2014helped offset the increase in accidents.\nOverall accident rates decreased from 4.69 per 100,000 flight hours to 4.28 and\nthe fatal accident rate decreased from 0.84 to 0.77 from 2020 to 2021,\nrespectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Non-commercial fixed-wing accident rates decreased slightly\nwith the fatal accident rate declining to 0.86 and the total accident rate\ndecreasing to 4.87. \u201cAn area where we\nsee some discouragement is the non-commercial helicopter accident rate, which\nrose following two years of decline,\u201d said Robert Geske, AOPA Air Safety\nInstitute manager of aviation safety analysis. Geske continued, \u201cWe are also\ndisappointed to see the lethality rate for weather accidents remain steady at\nan average of eight per year despite continual efforts to address this area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Landing accidents saw a decrease in the total number of\naccidents but an increase in the number of fatal accidents. Mechanical\naccidents saw an increase in total accidents but a decrease in fatal accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ASI\u2019s summaries for a given period provide insight and\ncomparisons of selected dates versus previous years. Please review the\nsummaries for a detailed analysis of trends and rates for non-commercial and\ncommercial fixed-wing operations, non-commercial and commercial helicopter\noperations, and sport\/experimental operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n