The oversight of pilot and flightcrew training by the US Federal Aviation Administration must improve, says a US General Accounting Office (GAO) report. It states that accident rates can be reduced by improved pilot training. The study examines the relationship of airline pilots' performance to accidents, and the FAA's system for controlling standards. Of the 169 major accidents examined between 1983 and 1995, about 30% were caused by inadequate pilot performance, the GAO says, noting that often the pilots' crew-resource management was non-existent or poor.
Source: Flight International
