Posted November 15, 2010 3:01 PM
By Peter Webber
Accidents will happen - A look at airliner and GA accidents
Accidents will happen, and not only to airliners.
Sadly the General Aviation world is not immune from accidents, either. But is it at any more risk than the airliners?
Details for the accidents above come from Ascend Online Fleets which includes all events, from the smallest incidents right through to complete hull losses. Note we have recorded the details for over 460 accidents so far in 2010.
It is interesting to note that indeed the GA fleet overall does have a higher accident frequency than airliners. We must bear in mind that these aircraft often operate away from established airports that the airliners use. The GA fleet works hard, often doing long hours without all the support the airlines have.
Also of note is that the turboprop airliners and business turbopops have a higher incident rate than their pure jet powered counterparts, and turbine helicopters are at a similar level. It is perhaps also surprising that turboprop airliners actually have a higher accident rate than business turboprops.
Helicopters are used as the beasts of burden for many industrial and agricultural industries worldwide. Often operating near the ground and under exacting operational conditions, they are frequently exposed to more dangers than other types and therefore have a relatively high incident rate.
These problems have been recognized and the helicopter industry, through the hard work of the International Helicopter Safety Team (www.ihst.com), it is working towards an 80% reduction in helicopter accidents over the next 10 years.
Accurate data on all losses is essential to the Insurance industry, and by using the newly available Ascend Fleets GA data, you will ensure that you have the best source available.
Doing this will give you the best chance of making the most informed decisions each day. You can drill down into the data to look at trends by type, region, usage, aircraft age and many others, and in combination.
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