FAA and GA Community Launch Fly Safe Campaign

The FAA, in conjunction with NBAA, AOPA and the Society of Flight Educators, launched a "Fly Safe" campaign to help the GA community prevent loss of control (LOC) accidents, which kill 450 people each year. The agency says LOC is the number-one cause of fatal accidents in the U.S., with one LOC accident happening every four days.

A loss of control involves an unintended departure from controlled flight outside an aircraft’s normal operating envelope and can occur in any phase of flight. Contributing factors may include poor judgment/aeronautical decision making, failure to recognize an aerodynamic stall or spin and execute corrective action, intentional regulatory non-compliance, low pilot time in aircraft make and model, lack of piloting ability, failure to maintain airspeed, failure to follow procedure, pilot inexperience and proficiency, or the use of over-the-counter drugs that affect pilot performance.

The FAA’s GA Joint Steering Committee has studied the data on the leading causes of LOC GA accidents and developed solutions. Each month the agency will focus on a different LOC solution and provide additional resource links such as those from NBAA, AOPA and SAFE.