Experimental airplanes that are assembled
from kits by hobbyists have been involved in more crashes and deaths than
factory-built small aircraft, according to a new study issued by the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Experimental airplanes like the one that
Micron CEO Steve Appleton was piloting when he died earlier this year are over
three times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident, the report says.
Out of the 102 accidents last year that involved these "kit" planes,
10 occurred the first time a pilot flew them.
"This has been an issue for a
while," said NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt at a hearing today in
Washington. "It involves a lot of pilots. Hopefully we can drive the
accident rate significantly down as a result of this study." There are
roughly 224,000 general aviation aircraft in the U.S., and of that total,
33,000 were built from kits. Around 1,000 experimental airplanes are built
every year.
There are a number of reasons why these
planes are more likely to be involved in fatal crashes. Home-built planes that
are assembled from kits are classified by the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) as "experimental" and are not held to the same regulations as
similar factory-built.
When an experimental plane is purchased and
assembled, the pilots lack the ability to properly assess whether the plane is
in working order. Additionally, the pilots who purchase home-built planes are
often not prepared to fly them, according to the NTSB study. The FAA offers
guidance on how pilots can test these planes, but the agency doesn't check to
make sure that these tests are actually carried out. This is thought to be a
reason behind engine failure being one of the biggest causes of experimental
plane crashes.
As a result of the study,
the Safety Board voted to recommend that pilots of experimental planes be
required to submit a flight-test plan to the FAA and test a new plane's fuel
system prior to the aircraft's first flight. The NTSB also recommended that
pilots record data from flight tests using the latest electronic gear in order
to provide a detailed record of the aircraft's performance.
The study was not intended to discourage
people from purchasing and building their own experimental planes, officials
said. "The home-built segment of the market has helped drive innovations
such as computerized cockpit electronics and the use of composite
materials," said NTSB chairwoman Deborah Hersman said after today's hearing.
"They are the heartbeat of innovation."
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