(Rich Stowell) wrote
Sorry I can't point you to the "harder" data you're looking for, but
here's perhaps a little perspective on the issue:

According to one NTSB Study, pilots with fewer than either 500 hours
total time, or 100 hours in type, are more likely to encounter an
inadvertent stall/spin than to have a genuine engine failure (i.e.: a
random-event engine failure, not one attributed to such pilot errors
as fuel mismanagement).

Really? If that were true, then there would be hard data.

What the NTSB study REALLY says is that these low time pilots are more
likely to encounter an inadvertent stall/spin LEADING TO AN ACCIDENT
than to have a genuine engine failure LEADING TO AN ACCIDENT. This is
because an engine failure rarely leads to an accident (at least if the
ones known to me are any indication) but an inadvertent stall/spin
usually leads to an accident.

For that matter, most engine failure fatalities in light singles are
not the result of collision with terrain (which is usually survivable)
but of failure to maintain flying speed (which usually isn't). That's
basically a stall/spin anyway.

In my case, over 6,400 hours ...
... two legitimate engine failures as follows:

2 in 6400 hours is very much consistent with my experience. It's also
very much consistent with the 1 in 1000 to 1 in 10000 number the FAA
provides.

Michael