The 34th edition of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Air Safety Institute’s Richard G. McSpadden Report shows that total accidents were up slightly in 2022, while flight hours were up by more than 500,000 hours.
The report also notes that fatal accidents were down in 2022, the latest year when all accident data is available.
According to the report, there was an increase in total accidents from 1,120 in 2021 to 1,152 in 2022.
“However, a large increase in flight activity by more than 500,000 hours helped mitigate the increase in total accidents,” Air Safety Institute officials said. “While overall accident rates rose slightly from 4.26 per 100,000 flight hours to 4.30, the fatal accident rate continued trending downward from 0.76 to 0.68 per 100,000 hours.”
“Non-commercial fixed-wing accidents trended slightly upward,” added Robert Geske, AOPA Air Safety Institute manager of aviation safety analysis. “However, following a large increase in flight activity for this category, the accident rate trended downward to 4.84 with the fatal accident rate also trending downward to 0.79.”
Geske also pointed out that non-commercial helicopter accident rates decreased, while commercial fixed-wing and commercial helicopter rates increased.
“Pilot-related accidents remain around 70%, with loss of control events continuing to be the leading causal factor and weather-related accidents remaining highly lethal,” Geske added.
Non-Commercial Fixed Wing
The report notes that non-commercial fixed-wing aircraft had 965 total accidents, including 157 that were fatal.
With overall accidents trending upward — following a large increase in flight activity for this category — the accident rate (4.84) trended downward. There was also a decrease in fatal accidents, with the fatal accident rate falling (0.79) helped by increased flight activity.
Pilot-related accidents consisted of 708 accidents, including 117 fatal accidents.
“Landing accidents still accounted for the largest number (346) but thankfully suffered few fatal accidents,” the report noted.
Loss of control on ground (136) continued to dominate as the leading cause of landing accidents.
Accidents that could not be classified into a meaningful phase of flight, but were reasonably inferred based on NTSB report data, fell into the “other and unknown” accident category.
As more NTSB accidents are classified, this category will shrink and those accidents will be placed in their respective areas, Air Safety Institute official said.
Other highlights from the report
Takeoff and climb accidents (212) fell from the previous year.
The largest number of accidents (53) were loss of control in flight (LOC-I), followed by engine powerplant failure (39). Fuel management (100) rose slightly from the previous year, with starvation (35) slightly ahead of exhaustion (34).
Maneuvering accidents decreased in both total (64) and fatal (31) from the previous year, according to the report.
LOC-I had 20 accidents, of which 18 were fatal. Descent and approach accidents rose sharply to 146, with LOC-I (42) as the largest cause.
Weather accidents decreased in total (21) and fatal (11) accidents. VFR into IMC led the category with 10 accidents, all of which were fatal.
New to this year’s report, en route accidents (146) decreased, with engine powerplant failure (48) as the leading cause. Preflight and taxi (40) remained flat from year to year, according to the report.
Mechanical-related accidents decreased in total (181) and had a small decrease in fatal accidents (21) from the previous year. Loss of engine power (60) continued to lead, followed by partial power loss (34) and system component failure non-powerplant (26), which accounted for the majority of mechanical accidents.
Commercial fixed-wing
Commercial fixed-wing accidents totaled 63, including nine that were fatal.
The overall accident rates rose slightly for total accidents (1.52) and fell slightly for fatal accidents (0.22) from the previous year.
The majority of commercial fixed-wing accidents continued to be pilot-related, the report noted.
Part 137 surpassed Part 135 accidents by four total accidents and five additional fatal accidents.
Non-commercial helicopter
Non-commercial helicopters had 82 accidents, including 11 that were fatal.
The majority of all accidents remained pilot-related.
The fatal accident rate fell to 0.87, while the total accident rate decreased slightly to 6.48.
Loss of control in flight and on ground, other, and abnormal runway contact accidents made up the largest categories, according to the report.
Commercial helicopter
Commercial helicopter had a total of 43 accidents, including six that were fatal.
The majority were pilot-related, followed by other/unknown. The fatal accident rate fell to 0.4 and the total accident rate (2.85) rose from the previous year.
Part 133 had three accidents, Part 135 had 21 accidents (three were fatal), and Part 137 had 19 accidents of which two were fatal.
Changes to the Report
According to Air Safety Institute officials, the report’s accident data are updated on a rolling 30-day cycle “allowing for the most current snapshot of general aviation safety performance.”
Officials also note that changes were made to the most recent report that align it with industry standards, which largely affect non-commercial fixed-wing accidents.
“While accident counts remain, the classification system used to denote phase and accident cause has changed,” they note. “This effort standardizes data with current NTSB reporting and creates future opportunity for wider applications within the AOPA Air Safety Institute.”
You can view the full report at AOPA.org.