NTSB Number NTSB/ARG-03/01
NTIS Number PB2003-104874
PDF Document(1.3 MB)

Introduction

Purpose of the Annual Review

The National Transportation Safety Board’s 1998 Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data for U.S. General Aviation presents a statistical compilation and review of general aviation accidents that occurred in 1998 involving U.S.-registered aircraft.  In addition to providing accident statistics for 1998, the review also includes general economic indicators that may have influenced general aviation activity for 1998 and contextual accident data from several years preceding the reporting period.

The accident data used in this review were extracted from the Safety Board’s Aviation Accident/Incident Database.¹   The activity data used in this review were extracted from the General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity Survey (GAATA Survey)²  and from U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics, both of which are published by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Statistics and Forecast Branch, Planning and Analysis Division, Office of Aviation Policy and Plans.  Additional information was extracted from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), General Aviation Statistical Databook.

What Is General Aviation?

General Aviation can be described as any civil aircraft operation that is not covered under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 121, 129, and 135, commonly referred to as commercial air carrier operations.³

Which Operations Are Included in this Review?

This review includes accidents involving U.S.-registered aircraft operating under 14 CFR Part 91, as well as civilian public use⁴  aircraft operations.  Aircraft operating under Part 91 include aircraft that are flown for recreation and personal transportation, as well as certain aircraft operations that are flown with the intention of generating revenue,⁵  including business flying, flight instruction, corporate/executive flights, positioning or ferry flights, pipeline/powerline patrols, and news and traffic reporting.

Which Aircraft Are Included in this Review?

General aviation operations are conducted in a wide range of aircraft, including airplanes, rotorcraft, gliders, balloons and blimps, and registered ultralight, experimental, or amateur-built aircraft.

The wide range of operations and aircraft types included within the scope of general aviation must be considered when interpreting the data presented in this review.  For example, the 1998 general aviation review includes accidents involving aircraft ranging in size from 250-pound ultralights to 40,000-pound business jets.

Not included in this review are any accident data associated with aircraft operating under  14 CFR Parts 121, 129, or 135, such as scheduled 121 air carrier operations, foreign air carrier operations, scheduled 135 air carrier operations (commuters), and nonscheduled 135 air carrier operations (air taxis).

Also not included are data involving military or non-U.S.-registered aircraft, such as military aircraft accidents, unless the accident also involves civil aircraft, foreign-registered aircraft, unregistered ultralights, and commercial space launches.  Crashes involving illegal operations or stolen aircraft are included in the accident total, but not in accident rates.

Changes to the Annual Review

The Annual Review has been modified from past years and is now organized into five parts.

• The first part presents a summary of the general aviation accident statistics for 1998 and an overview of economic and industry markers related to general aviation activity in 1998, as well as contextual statistics from previous years.
• The second part investigates trends over the past 10 years in terms of such factors as types of flight, levels of aircraft damage, and level of injury.
• The third part focuses on accidents that occurred during the 1998 calendar year and their circumstances.  Cause and factor findings for accidents occurring in 1998 are also listed.
• The fourth part focuses on several issues particularly relevant to general aviation safety.  The 1998 Annual Review focuses on the issues of survivability, midair collisions, and controlled flight into terrain.
• The fifth part, new this year, is a special topic that provides in-depth coverage of an important general aviation safety topic.  For the 1998 Annual Review, the special topic is flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).

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¹ A detailed description of the Aviation Accident/Incident Database is included in Appendix C.
² Data are available at <http://api.hq.faa.gov/pubsarchive.asp>.  Although included in the GAATA Survey, data associated with air taxi and air tour operations are not included in this review.
³ For an analysis of accidents related to air carrier operations, see National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data, U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1998, NTSB/ARC-02-02 (Washington, DC: NTSB, 2002), available at <http://www.ntsb.gov>.
⁴ Although the precise statutory definition has changed over the years, public aircraft operations are qualified government missions that may include law enforcement, low-level observation, aerial application, firefighting, search and rescue, biological or geological resource management, and aeronautical research.
⁵ See 14 CFR 119.1.

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