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The FAA has embarked on several initiatives to meet its
goal of reducing the fatal general aviation accident
rate by 2018. These include the renewal of the General
Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) with a
data-driven approach and the implementation of the
Flight Standards Service’s 5-year strategy.
The GAJSC, a government-industry partnership, focuses on
analyzing general aviation accident data to develop
effective intervention strategies. The 5-year strategy
involves numerous initiatives under four focus areas:
(1) risk management, (2) outreach which is composed of
FAA staff and industry volunteers, will be responsible
for carrying out significant portions of the strategy.
While the GAJSC’s efforts are modeled on an approach
deemed successful in contributing to a reduction in
fatal jeopardize its potential for success.
For example, the strategy lacks performance measures for
the significant activities that comprise it. Without a
strong performance management structure, FAA will not be
able to determine the success or failure of the
significant activities that underlie the 5-year
strategy.
Why GAO Did This Study - Although the U.S. aviation
system is one of the safest in the world, hundreds of
fatalities occur each year in general aviation—which
includes all forms of aviation except commercial and
military. The general aviation industry is composed of a
diverse fleet of over 220,000 aircraft that conduct a
wide variety of operations—from personal pleasure
flights in small, piston aircraft to worldwide
professionally piloted corporate flights in
turbine-powered aircraft.
According to 2011 National Transportation Safety Board
(NTSB) data, 92 percent of that year’s fatal accidents
occurred in general aviation. The majority of general
aviation accidents are attributed to pilot error. GAO
was asked to examine the (1) characteristics of and
trends in general 2011 and (2) recent actions taken by
FAA to improve general aviation safety. GAO analyzed
NTSB accident data, reviewed government and industry
studies and other documents, and interviewed FAA and
NTSB officials and industry stakeholders.
What GAO Recommends - GAO recommends, among other
things, that the FAA require the collection of general
aviation aircraft flight-hour data in ways that minimize
the impact on the general aviation community, set safety
improvement goals for individual general aviation
industry segments, and develop performance measures for
the significant activities underlying the 5-year
strategy. Department of Transportation officials agreed
to consider GAO’s recommendations and provided technical
comments, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.
Recommendations for Executive Action - Recommendation:
To enhance the FAA's efforts to improve general aviation
safety, and to expand the data available for root cause
analyses of general aviation accidents and other
purposes, the Secretary of Transportation should direct
the FAA Administrator to collect and maintain data on
each certificated pilot's recurrent training, and update
the data at regular intervals.
Recommendation: To enhance FAA's efforts to improve
general aviation safety, the Secretary of
Transportation should direct the FAA Administrator
to improve measures of general aviation activity by
requiring the collection of the number of hours that
general aviation aircraft fly over a period of time
(flight hours). FAA should explore ways to do this
that minimize the impact on the general aviation
community, such as by collecting the data at regular
events (e.g., during registration renewals or at
annual maintenance inspections) that are already
required.
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