The real risk of general aviation

A certain USA Today article has been making the rounds of the aviation corners of the interwebs this week. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't read it myself. However, the consensus seems to be that the author made many false accusations and misuses statistics in an impressive manner.

Thus, I was pleased to read a very different take on the matter this afternoon. Jeff Schweitzer put together a superb - if not slightly wordy - piece that dissects the USA Today article piece by piece. Whether you're a pilot or not (especially if you're not and/or you believed that other article, actually!) I'd highly recommend taking the time to read it. He nailed it.

Unfit for Publication: How USA Today Got Everything Wrong

USA Today splashed across its June 18, 2014, front page the breathless headline, "Unfit for Flight" to dramatize the deadly enterprise of flying general aviation aircraft (small airplanes). We learn in bold print there have been 45,000 deaths attributed to small aircraft and dozens of multimillion-dollar verdicts that reveal lies and coverups.

There is only one problem: Nearly every inference about aviation in the article is wrong. Let's put this in perspective statistically. If a private pilot flew 10 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, for 30 years, it would take over five lifetimes to be involved in a fatal accident.

Continue reading the full article here: http://huff.to/1pjtWlE