New ‘Nall Reports’ indicate continued decrease in accident rate
The AOPA Air Safety Institute’s just-released editions of the Joseph T. Nall Report note a continued decrease in overall accident rates. The overall accident rate in 2017 was 4.81 per 100,000 flight hours and 4.56 in 2018. The fatal accident rate also decreased to 0.76 per 100,000 hours in 2017 and 0.74 in 2018, based on available data.
The Air Safety Institute released findings from the twenty-ninth and thirtieth editions of the Nall Report. The data show that 2017 saw a decrease in total accidents from 2016, but 2018 saw an increase in total accidents. However, the overall and fatal accident rates continued downward trends.
“I am excited that this major effort has significantly accelerated the accident analysis process. This allows us to release the twenty-ninth and thirtieth Joseph T. Nall Reports, which provide a snapshot in time for 2017 and 2018 data, respectively,” said Air Safety Institute Senior Vice President Richard McSpadden. “In addition, the new interface allows anyone to select accident analysis graphs for multiple years, from as far back as 2008 to preliminary data trends for 2020. The NTSB takes approximately two years to issue its final findings for accidents, so as we move into 2021, initial accident data rates will also begin populating for the year 2019.”
The Air Safety Institute’s summaries for a given period provide insight and comparisons of selected dates versus previous years. Review the summaries for a detailed analysis of trends and rates for noncommercial and commercial fixed-wing operations, noncommercial and commercial helicopter operations, and sport/experimental operations.
The Air Safety Institute is funded by charitable donations to the AOPA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.
