EAA Presents at GA Safety Summit

July 2, 2015 - EAA Chairman of the Board Jack Pelton and Vice President of Advocacy and Safety Sean Elliott participated in this week’s FAA General Aviation Safety Summit in Washington, D.C. The annual meeting brings together members of government agencies and industry to talk about ways to reduce the general aviation accident rate.

The meeting focused on this year’s FAA “Fly Safe” campaign, especially regarding loss of control (LOC) accidents, the single largest contributor to the GA fatal accident rate. NTSB member Earl Weener emphasized that LOC is also one of the Board’s “most wanted” items this year.

EAA presented encouraging news on efforts within the community to reduce the fatal accident rate, including a new Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2015 and an initiative to be announced at this year’s convention that has the potential to markedly reduce the LOC rate though application of technology.

The FAA, led by Deputy Administrator Michael Whitaker, highlighted efforts to simplify Part 23 certification by applying industry standards to new manufacture, and efforts to facilitate the easy installation of non-essential safety enhancing equipment such as angle of attack indicators.

“Safety is a top priority for EAA,” Elliott said. “This was a productive discussion, and we were excited to share some new initiatives EAA is pursuing to involve our members to help with solutions and participate in training and technology available to help avoid in-flight loss of control.”