ON THE FLY

ARE OLDER PILOTS HAVING MORE ACCIDENTS? AOPA STUDIES ISSUE
An investigation conducted by The Associated Press, finding a disproportionate number of general aviation accidents among older pilots, was picked up by the media last week. The report concluded that pilots who are age 50 and older are more at risk than those 40 and younger. Much of the story focused on medical problems, which historically contribute to a fraction of a percent of accidents. (In 2004, only one accident was attributable to a heart attack. The causes were unknown for three other pilot incapacitation incidents.) By strictly comparing age to crash data, the report didn't consider that older pilots are more likely to own airplanes and fly more hours. AOPA last year launched its own study to look at the aging pilot issue and whether pilots are being treated fairly by insurance companies. While the numbers are still being evaluated, determining the causes is a complex business. Some pilots may be mentally sharper than their chronological ages. As the AP story pointed out, it's believed in the industry that wisdom and experience that comes with age can help make up for declining motor skills. "We're all getting older, and AOPA intends to find out what it can do to make sure pilots are being treated fairly," said AOPA President Phil Boyer. "We'll also look at whatever we can do to mitigate any problems, such as proficiency courses through the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, and other steps to keep you flying safely through the golden years."

ASF ACCIDENT DATABASE CAN HELP IMPROVE FLYING SKILLS
Learning from others' mistakes is a simple and safe way to improve your flying skills. The AOPA Air Safety Foundation's Accident Database is keyword searchable and includes a number of recent enhancements, including searching by make/model, weather or light conditions at the time of the accident, or highest injury. More than 55,000 searches have been performed since the improved search engine was introduced in September 2005.