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Glass cockpit aircraft more likely to have accidents which are fatal?

From the report

3. Pilots are not always provided all of the information necessary to adequately understand the
unique operational and functional details of the primary flight instruments in their airplanes.

4. Generalized guidance and training are no longer sufficient to prepare pilots to safely operate
glass cockpit avionics; effective pilot instruction and evaluation must be tailored to specific
equipment.

The report is from 2010 using data from 2002-2008. The newer generations of equipment is superior to the equipment made 15 years ago is my opinion about this.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Peter wrote:

Here we go

TAA 2007 study

NTSB Introduction of Glass Cockpit Avionics into Light Aircraft study

That TAA study is very interesting reading. Thank you!

LFPT, LFPN

The old stats on the Cirrus are not valid. Many of the Cirrus problems were due to people renting the plane with no Cirrus flying experience.

Cirrus fixed the problem by establishing strict training regimen for anyone getting into one. The Cirrus is a high performance, low drag sports car with advanced avionics and safety systems. Also the Cirrus CAPS system is an integral part of the architecture of the plane and those who are not trained in it’s use will also suffer.

Last Edited by USFlyer at 23 Dec 19:33

Many of the Cirrus problems were due to people renting the plane with no Cirrus flying experience.

Are you saying that one could just jump into a rental SR22 and fly it away without a checkout flight?

Also the Cirrus CAPS system is an integral part of the architecture of the plane and those who are not trained in it’s use will also suffer.

Did you really mean to write that?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

From 2013 onwards the Cirrus became the SEP with the lowest fatal accident rate due to better training and because of COPA’S safety initiative.

F59 is that supported? Five Cirrus fatals in the NTSB database for the last year, on around 6,000 produced, which is probably below 1 fatality per 100,000 hours, so quite creditable. Doesn’t seem to show some Cirrus fatals outside the US, so perhaps understating the actual count. 11 fatals for the lowly PA28 with over 32,000 produced. If you could filter for fatals in the PA-28-161 you might find it below 1/2 per 100,000 hours, but the PA28 despite having some models operating with more than fifty years on the airframe, is probably still coming in below the Cirrus, although a statistician might not regard it as significant.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

2 days ago: Five dead near Oakland, CA Piper PA32 http://tinyurl.com/zm57fq8
4 days ago: 5 dead near Bakersfield, CA Piper PA32 http://tinyurl.com/oqoblvs
30 days ago: 1 dead near Omaha, NE Piper P46T http://tinyurl.com/op5kogj

There were a few Cirrus chute pulls in 2015 -

Video: Former Walmart CEO deployed CAPS (4 aboard none hurt) http://tinyurl.com/hgt9duj
Video: Cirrus SR22t CAPS deployed in Pacific (ferry flight 1 aboard not hurt) http://tinyurl.com/phxjs2a

Last Edited by USFlyer at 23 Dec 21:26

….errr I said the fixed gear PA28, perhaps the Cirrus is the safest in terms of high performance SEP with a certain HP and MAUM? Which it well may be. The average GA fatality rate has been stuck at around 2 per 100,000 hours for years. The Cirrus at around 0.8 per 100,000 hours, and being higher performance to boot, is therefore very creditable, and the CAPS self evidently has been the factor bringing the fatal rate down.

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

You may find this RECENT article to be of some use:
Fatal Cirrus Crashes Way Down http://airfactsjournal.com/2015/02/fatal-cirrus-crashes-way-thank-parachute/

Given the Cirrus is a serious cross-country all weather flying platform this also interesting:

In 2014, with just under 6,000 airplanes in the fleet flying an estimated 1,000,000 flight hours, there were only 3 fatal Cirrus accidents.

@RobertL18C

yes, its a credible statistic, I will post the graph from NTSB once I have more time (guess why I have no time at the moment … :-)) (Hint: 2 Kids, 11 and 13 :-))

US Flyer five fatals in the 2015 database, one in January, one in July, two in August, one in November. Correct, three in 2014, but they seem to omit international accidents, presumably only covering N reg accidents.

F59, the safety statistic is very creditable, i.e. good – whether the Cirrus is the safest SEP, less sure on this – I would still suggest the lowly Warrior may still be winning on this score, but a very different type and mission, and the difference is statistically irrevelant. Edit to add, that as an owner of both types F59 your fleet is in good shape on the safety front.

Last Edited by RobertL18C at 23 Dec 22:25
Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom
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