Glass Cockpit Aircraft Offer Safety Benefits

Technologically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) have fewer accidents when compared to the overall general aviation fleet, according to a study recently released by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation. However, no amount of technology can replace a pilot's vigilance and good judgment, the safety group warned. "Light GA pilots are now undergoing the transition that the airlines and corporate pilots underwent in prior decades," states the report, Technologically Advanced Aircraft: Safety and Training. "Training requirements center on differences in new-design TAA handling characteristics and the addition of capable but complex avionics packages."  There are three categories of TAA aircraft: newly designed aircraft; newly manufactured classic design aircraft equipped with new avionics; and retrofitted existing aircraft of varying ages. For the purpose of this study, the foundation focused its research solely on glass-cockpit aircraft. The analysis of accidents that occurred between 2003 and 2006 shows that TAA have proportionately fewer accidents than the overall GA fleet. While TAA account for 2.8 percent of the GA fleet, they were involved in only 1.5 percent of the accidents. The TAA report did note a significant number of weather accidents. Of all fatal TAA accidents during the study period, 44.4 percent were weather related. As with legacy aircraft, which use traditional avionics and instruments, VFR into instrument conditions is a leading cause of weather accidents.