The incidence of incidents: A nationwide study of flight experience and exposure to accidents and incidents

Very little is known about the actual flying activity patterns of pilots in civil aviation, particularly those in the recreational and general aviation sectors. Accurate information about hours flown is required to correctly calculate accident rates and to determine the risk factors for involvement in aviation accidents. Little information currently exists about involvement in incidents (events that have the potential to result in an accident). This study involved 2 nationwide surveys mailed to approximately 8,500 active pilots in New Zealand. The Ist survey asked respondents to report recorded logbook flight-time entries to determine the actual hours flown in various aircraft and operational categories. When combined with the official accident data, the information about flight activity showed substantial differences in comparative accident rates between different categories of aircraft. These data also showed that there were no sex differences in accident involvement after controlling for exposure (flight-activity). A 2nd survey requested information about involvement in accidents and incidents. The results of the 2nd survey showed that encounters with potentially hazardous events, such as running low on fuel, were fairly common and that around a quarter of respondents had been involved in an aircraft accident or incident in the previous 3 years. Implications of the results for safety interventions are discussed. No span of time is so carefully documented as the working hours and minutes of a professional pilot. The facts are firmly recorded in fine-lined logbooks, and to the initiated, the bald, uninspiring figures can easily be revived into actuality. (Gann, 1961, p. 12).