In calendar year 2007. US general aviation has seen its lowest-ever number of fatal accidents, but there was a slight increase year-on-year in the total number of mishaps in the sector, according to just-released provisional figures from the US National Transportation Safety Board.
There were 284 fatal GA accidents in 2007 compared with 306 the previous year, which itself was a record low. The number of resulting fatalities was also the lowest ever at 486, but that still represented nearly 90% of all aviation-related deaths, according to the NTSB (see pie chart for sector breakdown).
The fatal accident rate was the second best ever at 1.19 fatal events per 100,000 flying hours. The best ever rate, 1.16, was achieved in 1999. GA activity in hours flown has reduced from nearly 29.5 million in 1999 to 23.84 million in 2007.
The figure for all GA accidents in 2007 was 1,631, up from 1,518 the previous year. Partly as a result of a continuing fall in the number of flying hours recorded in the US GA sector last year compared with 2006, the all-accident rate increased from 6.33 to 6.84 mishaps per 100,000 flying hours.
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Source: Flight International
