AIR SAFETY

BY JAMES BERNSTEIN | Newsday Staff Writer

October 13, 2006

An organization representing private pilots was quick to defend people who fly small planes for recreation or business yesterday following the accident that killed Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor, saying such flying is safe and the number of crashes and fatalities has declined sharply over the last two decades.

Chris Dancy, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in Maryland, said that the number of accidents and deaths resulting from crashes of light airplanes has been declining since 1980, a peak year for the general aviation, or non-scheduled airline, sector of the industry.

In 1980, general aviation airplanes were involved in 3,590 crashes, 655 of which involved fatalities. In contrast, last year, such airplanes were involved in 1,764 accidents, 334 of those involving fatalities.

The association's statistics show that last year there were 7.23 general aviation accidents, 1.37 of them fatal, per 100,000 hours flown.

Pilots with more flying experience in a particular type of plane have fewer accidents, according to a study by the association's Air Safety Foundation. The study found that more than 44 percent of all accidents in 2004 involved pilots with fewer than 100 hours in in a particular type of aircraft. About 48.3 percent of fatal accidents were at the 100-hour level of experience. The study found that total accident rates fall sharply after the first 100 hours of time "in type."

Dancy said also that the number of private pilots and private airplanes has been declining after reaching a peak in 1980. There were 800,000 private pilots in the United States in 1980, compared with about 600,000 now. Dancy said there are about 210,000 private airplanes in the country currently. That number is down since 1980, but Dancy said he was not able immediately to provide a figure.

Immediately following the crash, critics of general aviation began to call for stronger restrictions, particularly in overcrowded metropolitan areas. The critics also called for greater security at smaller airports and more training for people who want to become private pilots.

"The issue centers around our willingness to impose on general aviation the same kind of security we have at commercial airports," said Charles Slepian, chief executive of the Foreseeable Risk Analysis Center in Manhattan. "The general aviation community seems to resist that. They seem to feel that because they have so many members they have enough power behind them to make the rules themselves."

Dancy said, however, that security at most airports in the United States seems to be sufficient and that since 9/11 private pilots are required to carry identification with them and show it to airport officials if asked.