A_F_2015_01_02_

or some reason

there is no better

news story than a

good plane crash – the

papers love it, the TV

media loves it and the internet

is full of good examples

of some pilot and their

passengers having a really bad

day. It has been like that ever since

the dawn of aviation; if the Internet

had been around at the time of the

Montgolfier brothers there would have

been footage of hot-air balloon crashes

circulating for comment on social

media getting lots of likes and shares.

Whenever there is a crash involving

sports aircraft, the phones of those

involved as leaders of various sport

aviation associations are bombarded

with phone calls from journalists

demanding to get an opinion on the

latest crash and what went wrong.

Unless we were actually involved in

the accident ourselves, this usually is

met with a standard set of answers

offering messages of support for the

survivors, and condolences to the

family and friends of the deceased. We

are not able to offer an opinion on the

crash as we simply weren’t there, but

the “Google Journalist”, has already

formulated their story, and can tell you

that one of these plane types crashed

in 1997 in the same circumstances in

South America which makes flying

them unsafe. Then they want us to

confirm their opinion.

For those “ journalists” that call

with the pretense of “wanting to

know all about sport aircraft” then

add the line “what can you tell me

about the crash at XYZ?” I simply

tell them that if they really wanted to

know about sport aircraft, why have

they waited until an accident occurs

before contacting me? My details are

readily available on the Sport Aircraft

Association of Australia’s website ...

I am always really saddened when

I read that another experienced

pilot has perished in their aircraft.

Why didn’t all of their training

and life’s experiences prevent that

from happening? Why didn’t they

manage the risks? Why didn’t they

recognise the situation earlier? What

went wrong to prevent them from

recovering from a nasty situation?

For the benefit of Australian Flying

readers, the “facts” around the risks

associated with flying amateur-built

aircraft can be found in reports issued

by the ATSB and their American

equivalent, the NTSB. The most

recent report from the ATSB, whilst

not new, still has relevant information

that we can learn from. The ATSB

found that amateur-built aircraft

had an accident rate three times

higher than factory-built certified

aircraft conducting similar operations

between 1988 and 2010. The fatal

and serious injury accident rate was

over five times higher in amateur-built

aircraft, in particular due to relatively

more serious injury accidents.

The report showed that over half

of the accidents were precipitated by

mechanical events, which were mainly

complete or partial engine failures.

Following the amateur-built phase

one test period, mechanical failures

were still significantly more common

when compared with factory-built

aircraft. A quarter of accidents

were from loss of aircraft control.

Structural failures were not common

precursors in amateur-built aircraft.

Now you don’t need to be a

rocket scientist to work out that if

something goes wrong with your

propulsion system in flight that you

are going to start falling back to

earth. The trick is to prevent it from

happening in the first place, and if

it does happen, fall back to earth

in a controlled manner. Simply

choosing to fit quality aero-engines

and propellers to an amateur-built

aircraft using sound aeronautical

engineering practices and properly

maintaining it helps reduce the risk

dramatically. Keeping a healthy

supply of fuel and a properly timed

spark to the spark-plugs is also

good. Having proper training on

what to do when the engine stops

is the next biggest factor in

surviving the incident.

A lot of accidents could be avoided

in the first place if you have good risk

mitigation strategies in place, then

the likelihood of something actually

going wrong on your next flight is

greatly reduced.

The report concluded: Owners of

amateur-built aircraft should ensure they

have adequate training in the same type of

aircraft before operating the aircraft they

have built, or purchased second-hand.

Learning to fly our planes properly

is the biggest single factor that will

help save us if things go wrong in

flight; recognizing a problem before it

is too late and dealing with it is much

better than becoming a passenger on

the way to a crash scene.

Flying any plane–be it amateur-

built or certified–carries with it

certain risks. Training to manage

those risks and rejecting flights

where the risks are unacceptable is

the best way of not becoming the

subject of some Google Journalist’s

latest interest in sport aviation.

We are always working with our

members to build safer, better-

constructed and well-maintained

aircraft. We are continuously

developing networks of suitably

qualified flight instructors to train

pilots to adapt their piloting skills

to safely fly our sports aircraft types

• if you are one of those instructors
  that would like to make a difference
  give the SAAA a call.
  Remember, speed doesn’t kill
  you, but a sudden stop will, so fly
  your aircraft all the way to the
  ground ... even if you are having a
  really bad day.

79

Bad Days

Indeed

Building and testing your own

aeroplane such as this Mustang II

requires the right training if you are

to keep operating it safely.

SAAA correspondent

Martin Ongley explores

the world of amateur-

built aeroplanes.

australianflying.com.au

January - February 2015 AUSTRALIAN FLYING

why have they waited until

an accident occurs before

contacting me?

Good Sports SPORT AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

ANDY FRANCIS