NTSB Number NTSB/ARG-03/02
NTIS Number PB2003-105847
PDF Document(755 KB)

Introduction

Purpose of the Annual Review

The National Transportation Safety Board’s 1999 Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data for U.S. General Aviation presents a statistical compilation and review of general aviation accidents that occurred in 1999 involving U.S.-registered aircraft. In addition to providing accident statistics for 1999, the review also includes general economic indicators that may have influenced general aviation activity for 1999 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 (GA) 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 1999 general aviation review includes accidents involving aircraft ranging in size from 440-pound experimental aircraft to 46,500-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 Part 135 air carrier operations (commuters), and nonscheduled Part 135 air carrier operations (air taxis). Also not included are data involving military or non-U.S.-registered aircraft (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.

Organization of the Annual Review

• The 1999 Annual Review is organized into five parts.
  The first part summarizes general aviation accident statistics for 1999, economic and industry markers related to general aviation activity in 1999, and contextual statistics from previous years.
• The second part investigates trends over the past 10 years for such factors as the types of flight, levels of aircraft damage, and level of injury.
• The third part focuses on accidents that occurred during the 1999 calendar year and their circumstances. Cause and factor findings for accidents occurring in 1999 are also listed.
• The fourth part discusses selected issues particularly relevant to general aviation safety. Topics included this year are the loss of engine power due to carburetor icing and fuel exhaustion/starvation.
• The fifth part provides in-depth coverage of a special topic important to general aviation safety. Because of the continued increase in the popularity of amateur-built aircraft, the special topic of the 1999 Annual Review is accidents involving amateur-built aircraft.

Like the 1998 Annual Review, the 1999 Annual Review presents statistical data more graphically than in the years prior to 1998. Readers who wish to view the data in a tabular format or who wish to manipulate the data used in the report may access the data set online at the Safety Board’s Web site, http://www.ntsb.gov. They may also contact the Safety Board’s Public Inquiries Branch at 202-314-6551.

___________________________________________________

1 A detailed description of the Aviation Accident/Incident Database is included in Appendix C.
2 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 1999, NTSB/ARC-03-01 (Washington, D.C.: 2003), 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.

NTSB Home | Publications