FAA aims to improve general aviation safety
In a week that has seen deadly plane crashes in Wisconsin and California, the Federal Aviation Administration is calling for vigilance in general aviation. On Monday, the FAA called for a 10 percent reduction in the accident rate for general aviation, which pertains to any type of flight not operated by the airlines. A day earlier, a single-engine Cessna 150 crashed southwest of Baraboo, Wisconsin, killing Robert L. and Elaine Eigner. Also on Sunday, the crash of a Cessna 210 killed a woman and two children near Barstow, California. According to the FAA, 268 general aviation crashes claimed the lives of 457 people in 2010. While those numbers represent a marked improvement over the 2001 numbers, officials worry that as flight hours decline, the risk of a disastrous crash rises. Over the past nine years, general aviation hours have fallen from 29 million to 22 million. General aviation applies to a wide range of flyers, from hobby pilots who assemble their planes from kits to Fortune 500 businesses who rely on Lear jets for corporate travel. All of them deserve the comfort of safe travel.
