Accident Numbers Round-Off Fiscal Year Well Under FAA Limit

October 12, 2017 - In September, EAA completed its annual tracking of experimental category fatal accidents. Experimental aircraft were involved in 45 fatal accidents during fiscal year 2017, with amateur-built aircraft accounting for roughly two-thirds of those accidents. As in previous years, the FAA established a “not-to- exceed” number based on a one percent reduction in accidents from the previous three-year average. The number of fatal accidents for fiscal year 2017 came in well below the not to exceed number of 59. Additionally, experimental fatal accidents saw a decrease of eight percent over fiscal year 2016 data. The numbers follow a downward trend of fatal accidents in both experimental aircraft and general aviation has a whole.

Despite the promising numbers, EAA is committed to expanding its role in general aviation safety with the goal of seeing even larger decreases in fatal accidents. For more information on the 2017 accident numbers and EAA’s safety initiatives, see the advocacy section in the November issue of Sport Aviation.