Engineering Commons^™

Vfr-Into-Imc Accident Trends: Perceptions Of Deficiencies In Training, Wesley L. Major, Thomas Carney, Julius Keller, Allen Xie, Matt Price, John Duncan, Lori Brown, Geoffrey R. Whitehurst, William G. Rantz, Dominic Nicolai, Beth M. Beaudin-Seiler

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

Pilots who operate under visual flight rules (VFR) and in visual meteorological conditions, who then continue flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), remain as one of the leading causes of fatal aircraft accidents in general aviation. This paper examines past and current research initiatives, in seeking to identify causal factors and gaps in training that lead to VFR-into-IMC aircraft accidents, using a mixed methods approach. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute database and the National Transportation Safety Board database search engines were used to identify accident reports associated with VFR flight into IMC/deteriorating weather conditions for a …

Vfr-Into-Imc: An Analysis Of Two Training Protocols On Weather-Related Posttest Scores, Julius C. Keller, Thomas Carney, Allen Xie, Wesley Major, Matt Price

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute, 264 accidents were identified as continued visual flight rules (VFR) into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), during the past ten years. Approximately 89% of those VFR-into-IMC accidents were fatal, causing hundreds of deaths. VFR-into-IMC has been a major concern for the general aviation community, prompting focused efforts. Research, data analyses, outreach, training, and education are recommended practices to address risks associated with VFR-into-IMC. Researchers of the current study sought to evaluate the cause and effect relationship between two training protocols and weather-related posttest scores. A pretest–posttest experimental design was utilized …

A Comparison Of Malfunction-Related Accidents For General Aviation Aircraft Manufactured In 1970–1984 And 2000–2014, Douglas Boyd, Jochen Hinkelbein

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The United States general aviation fleet is aging with aircraft manufactured 35–39 years ago representing the most prevalent group. Since older aircraft are more prone to airframe corrosion, fatigue, and brittle electrical wiring, the present study was undertaken to determine whether malfunction-related accidents for general aviation aircraft manufactured between 1970 and 1984 were elevated relative to airplanes produced more recently (2000–2014).

The NTSB aviation accident database was used to identify piston-powered airplane accidents occurring over the 2005–2014 period. Aircraft manufacture year and fleet activity data were from the FAA. Statistical analyses employed contingency tables and Poisson distributions.

The proportion of …