Safety Study. Public Aircraft Safety
Abstract
Abstract: Public aircraft" are aircraft operated for the purpose of fulfilling a government function that meet certain conditions specified under Title 49 United States Code, Section 40102(a)(37). The Safety Board identified 341 public aircraft accidents that occurred during the years 1993-2000. Using activity data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (for the period 1996-1999), the Board calculated an accident rate of 3.66 accidents per 100,000 flight hours for nonmilitary, nonintelligence public aircraft. Using activity data from the General Services Administration (also for the period 1996-1999%), the Board calculated an accident rate of 4.58 per 100,000 flight hours for nonmilitary, nonintelligence Federal aircraft. Both rates were lower than the general aviation accident rate (7.2 accidents per 100,000 flight hours), but higher than the accident rate for air taxis (3.47), scheduled Part 14 CFR 135 operations (1.06), or 14 CFR Part 121 operations (0.30). Comparisons between public and general aviation accidents revealed similar proportions of broad causal factors. However, accidents in these two sectors differed in other ways. A higher proportion of public aircraft crashed during local flights, at off-airport locations, and during maneuvering phases of flight. Also, accident-involved public aircraft pilots were more likely than accident-involved general aviation pilots to hold advanced ratings.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 23, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA401265
Entities
Organizations
- National Transportation Safety Board