Aeronautical Science, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S Clyde Morris Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA.
College of Aviation, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S Clyde Morris Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114, USA.
J Safety Res. 2018 Sep;66:95-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2018.06.004. Epub 2018 Jun 14.
The special category light sport airplane (light sport) sector of general aviation has grown 10-fold in as many years with solo operations requiring only a sports pilot's certificate. With little research on light sport airplane safety, the study objective was to compare light sport and type-certificated airplane accident rates.
Accidents were identified from the National Transportation Safety Board database. Statistics employed Poisson distribution/proportion analyses/Mann-Whitney U-tests.
For the 2009-2015 period, the light sport airplane accident rate (fatal/non-fatal combined) was >15-fold higher than comparable type-certificated aircraft, undiminished over time. The excessive light sport airplane accident rate was associated with inferior airman experience (time-in-type, certification). Mishaps were most frequent during landing (40%) and, of these, nearly half were due to a deficiency in the flare. There were a dis-proportionate number of trainees involved in landing accidents compared with mishaps for other phases of operations.
Towards improving safety, additional light sport training with emphasis on landings and a focus on the flare and directional control is warranted.
In the confines of the present study considering that landing mishaps, the most common accident cause, are often related to deficiencies in the flare and loss-of-directional control, instructors should ensure that airmen have mastered these aspects of landing and, for trainees, acquired the appropriate visual monocular cues.
通用航空的特殊类别轻型运动飞机（轻型运动）领域在短短几年内增长了 10 倍，单人操作只需运动飞行员证书。由于对轻型运动飞机安全的研究甚少，本研究的目的是比较轻型运动和型号认证飞机的事故率。
事故从国家运输安全委员会数据库中确定。统计数据采用泊松分布/比例分析/曼-惠特尼 U 检验。
在 2009 年至 2015 年期间，轻型运动飞机的事故率（致命/非致命综合）是可比型号认证飞机的 15 倍以上，且随着时间的推移并未减少。过高的轻型运动飞机事故率与较差的飞行员经验（时间、认证）有关。事故最常发生在着陆时（40%），其中近一半是由于flare 不足造成的。与其他操作阶段的事故相比，受训人员参与着陆事故的比例不成比例。
为了提高安全性，需要额外的轻型运动训练，重点是着陆以及 flare 和方向控制。
在本研究的范围内，考虑到最常见的事故原因是着陆事故，通常与 flare 和方向控制不足有关，因此教练应该确保飞行员掌握着陆的这些方面，对于受训人员来说，应该获得适当的视觉单眼线索。
