Safety statistics

"JohnH" wrote in message
et...
Paul Lynch wrote:
Apples and oranges, supported by unsupportable numbers.


"Ephraim" wrote in message
om...

Can anyone tell me how safety statistics for soaring compares with
statistics for driving automobiles?

Thanks in advance,

--Ephraim




I would like to know, you know, for the next time someone rolls their
eyes upward when I tell them I'm taking soaring lessons :-)

john
orlando, fl

The only statistics that made any sense at all to me was that there is a
general statistical risk of accidental death of any type and that soaring is
safer than this general risk. Therefore, compared to other activities,
though it may seem higher than some that you participate in, liking driving
to
the glider field, it likely does not increase your overall risk much.

That being said, a quick visit to www.ntsb.gov is in order. Go to Aviation,
databases, and filter on gliders for this year.

So, a crash landing in the trees may be safer than trying to land in a
narrow patch
between trees? Crash landing in cold water is preferable to landing on
rocks?
(BTW, a young boy drowned due to hypothermia trying to swim across the same
reservoir the following week). Rock polishing may be very dangerous, as
there were at least two perfectly landable fields 800ft below the impact
point in Morgan City, Utah (I've seen a photo).

These are relative judgement issues and our collective experience set is too
small to say what the right or wrong decision might be in some cases. The
environmental implications cannot be ignored, but are only a factor in
making the decision to fly, press on, etc. We can always take the decision
to err on the side of caution and live to fly another day. Gaining the
wisdom to make that decision is highly individual...... Among the cross
country experienced soaring pilots, there's not a one that hasn't had a
chance to get wiser and older.

A factor I find more disturbing when combing through these records over the
years is that there is a much higher incidence of hardware failure or
compromise than I would have expected and have heard about in passing hangar
talk. This is beyond the rigging and latching errors.

The first large government agency that I worked for had a very strict rule
regarding moving accidents, and that is, that all are preventable. But you
must strive for this sort of perfection. Mentoring, cross-country camps,
task weeks, and lead and follow flying are all excellent ways to improve the
skills and judgement required to experience soaring safely beyond the local
area. In some soaring organizations, it's built into the process through a
tiered, value added process of inculcating members and promoting their
opportunities. In others, it's an add-on process. IMVHO, one is more
effective than the other, but both have their place.

Frank Whiteley