Sport Pilot Talk

dfmoeller · Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 13 Location: Austin, TX

Here's a topic. The sport pilot rules are going on 5 years old (or is it 6 now?). Has anyone seen any data showing the accident rate for sport pilots vs private pilots? In particular, I'm wondering about accidents attributable to the lack of a traditional medical cert vs the "drivers license" medical. I would look this up myself, but I can't think of how to frame the search criteria.

The reason I am wondering is that some time back, the FAA had indicated that upon gaining enough data, they might reconsider the need for a 3rd class medical for recreational pilots. I personally think they will ultimately combine sport and recreational, but not before there is hard statistical evidence showing no need for the medical. I know, unlikely, but I am very interested in how the data is panning out. By now, we should have some data on the subject.

Doug

Jim Stewart · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 259

I can't speak authoritatively on the subject, but I don't believe there has been any LS accidents attributed to medical issues that would have been prevented with a class 3 medical.

OTOH, accidents in general due to medical issues will be rare compared to flying into weather, running out of gas and general poor piloting. So I don't think the FAA will move until they have several years of data.

AZPilot · Joined: 25 Jun 2009 Posts: 156

Jim Stewart wrote: I can't speak authoritatively on the subject, but I don't believe there has been any LS accidents attributed to medical issues that would have been prevented with a class 3 medical.

OTOH, accidents in general due to medical issues will be rare compared to flying into weather, running out of gas and general poor piloting. So I don't think the FAA will move until they have several years of data.

This. I haven't seen anything stats that point to non-medical as a problem. LSA/SP rates are in line with the rest of GA. Transition training seems to be more problematic with LSA/SP specific accidents. Also there seems to be a bit of "horsing around" at low altitudes, which of course is gross pilot error.

The #1 and #2 problems in GA are wx and knowing where your fuel is. This has been historic for eons. If we could only get pilots to wake up.

theoarno · Joined: 26 Mar 2010 Posts: 59 Location: Texas

This article from "Flying Magazine" seems to indicate that Sport Flying seems to have a higher accident rate.
http://www.flyingmag.com/pilot-reports/lsa/sport/lsa-safety-picture-emerging

Here is a quote.
"In terms of the conventional safety matrix, LSAs are stacking up to be more than twice as risky (in terms of fatal accidents) as personal Part 23 airplanes"

ArionAv8or · Joined: 20 Mar 2010 Posts: 271

theoarno wrote: This article from "Flying Magazine" seems to indicate that Sport Flying seems to have a higher accident rate.
http://www.flyingmag.com/pilot-reports/lsa/sport/lsa-safety-picture-emerging

Here is a quote.
"In terms of the conventional safety matrix, LSAs are stacking up to be more than twice as risky (in terms of fatal accidents) as personal Part 23 airplanes"

Good article, thanks for sharing. It seems they are a little safer than Exp. so that is a start.

tadel001 · Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 251

I was involved in an FAA process relating to a difference type of aircraft and the medical issue came up. There have been two accidents in LSAs that were related to medical conditions. In both accidents, the pilot had a medical certificate. So the short answer is there is no evidence to support that a medical would increase safety in LSAs.

On the other hand, there is evidence that LSA have a higher ration of accidents than Part 23. Within that data, the accident rates are higher for licensed pilots transition to LSA. The data on new students incidents in LSA is actually favorable.

theoarno · Joined: 26 Mar 2010 Posts: 59 Location: Texas

I have read a seperate article which had an interview with an aviation insurance executive which also stated that pilot transitioning from GA aircraft to LSA showed a higher rate of pilot error accidents.
It also stated that at the time of the interview the insurance company was loosing money on the LSA side of the buisiness.
Here is the link.
http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/pilot-talk/more-pilot-talk/light-sport-chronicles-csi-insurance-excogitations-on-lsa-crashes-part-1.html

Some people may not agree with the conclussions but we can always go to school on the data and endevor to not be one of the statistics.

richgj3 · Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 7 Location: LI,NY

There are no stats because the FAA has no idea how many Sport Pilots there are. When a Private Pilot or higher lets his or her medical expire, how do the feds know if that person has given up flying or is continuing to fly the same hours as a Sport Pilot?

They don't have any way to capture this data. If they could it would show that a third class medical is useless, which is what they DON'T want to admit.

Rich