Calling it how he sees it...Tom Knauff on the glider accident rate

I copied this from Tom's most recent group emailing...I
think he has some insightful comments, provided unvarnished.




Many of you have written asking for more detailed accident
statistics.

It would be nice to have statistics relating number
of hours flown and number of flights, but these are
not available.

Neither are number of licensed glider pilots who actually
fly at all (a substantial number) or the average number
of hours flown by 'active' glider pilots. It has been
estimated the average active glider pilot probably
only flies 35 hours a year.

Even the actual number of SSA members is not known
as the organization has historically inflated the numbers
by counting certain individuals more than once.

The bottom line is if we did know the numbers, the
statistics would be even worse. The number of fatalities
per flights, or per flight hours would be staggering.

Several of you ask why flying gliders is so dangerous
and what can be done.

Glider pilots as a group are well educated, affluent,
older. They are in good health for the most part. Alcohol
plays no role in the accidents nor does impetuous,
youthful, immaturity, or flying at night or in extremely
foul weather.

What has been demonstrated over and over again is glider
pilots simply do not have the knowledge, nor the skills
necessary to fly safe.

It amazes me how otherwise intelligent people will
subject themselves to an activity fraught with risks
with minimal training, and minimal knowledge.

Using just one example I have spoken often about, 15%
of our fatalities occur during the first 15 seconds
of flight. As a group, we do not know how to launch
safely. These accidents could be stopped almost entirely
if pilots would seek (forced to be exposed to) the
knowledge available to them.

Rather, as a group, we will not make even the slightest
effort to gain the knowledge necessary to make a safe
takeoff.
Takeoff accidents will continue. Except at those places
teaching (force feeding) pilots thoroughly.

We have a very safe site. No accidents involving pilot injuries in the life of
the club (last 9 years)- there have been injuries on the ground with winch
cables and other equipment, but all relatively minor.
It takes some luck, there have been a couple of incidents that could have turned
out worse than they did. Conversely it is largely due to a certain attitude to
safety and training. Safety Officer and CFI are not the most popular roles
always, and doing the right thing does not necessarily keep everyone happy, but
does minimise the number of funerals you attend...

I know it would probably go down badly in the USA but we make a point of
addressing each other on the issue of safety. It is not "someone else's problem"
, ever. If someone does something dangerous, or potentially dangerous, discuss
it with him/her. You will no doubt end up sharing the sky with that person, and
it is a whole lot more comfortable knowing that your associates are aware of the
safety issues and thinking about them. Keep to the facts, avoid personalising it
and hopefully both parties will learn something.

That said, we have some of the most dangerous roads in the world, and it is
still more dangerous doing a "simple" circuit than driving to the field.

Stewart Kissel wrote:
I copied this from Tom's most recent group emailing...I
think he has some insightful comments, provided unvarnished.




Many of you have written asking for more detailed accident
statistics.

It would be nice to have statistics relating number
of hours flown and number of flights, but these are
not available.

Neither are number of licensed glider pilots who actually
fly at all (a substantial number) or the average number
of hours flown by 'active' glider pilots. It has been
estimated the average active glider pilot probably
only flies 35 hours a year.

Even the actual number of SSA members is not known
as the organization has historically inflated the numbers
by counting certain individuals more than once.

The bottom line is if we did know the numbers, the
statistics would be even worse. The number of fatalities
per flights, or per flight hours would be staggering.

Several of you ask why flying gliders is so dangerous
and what can be done.

Glider pilots as a group are well educated, affluent,
older. They are in good health for the most part. Alcohol
plays no role in the accidents nor does impetuous,
youthful, immaturity, or flying at night or in extremely
foul weather.

What has been demonstrated over and over again is glider
pilots simply do not have the knowledge, nor the skills
necessary to fly safe.

It amazes me how otherwise intelligent people will
subject themselves to an activity fraught with risks
with minimal training, and minimal knowledge.

Using just one example I have spoken often about, 15%
of our fatalities occur during the first 15 seconds
of flight. As a group, we do not know how to launch
safely. These accidents could be stopped almost entirely
if pilots would seek (forced to be exposed to) the
knowledge available to them.

Rather, as a group, we will not make even the slightest
effort to gain the knowledge necessary to make a safe
takeoff.
Takeoff accidents will continue. Except at those places
teaching (force feeding) pilots thoroughly.





--
Bruce Greeff
Std Cirrus #57
I'm no-T at the address above.

I am in the process of starting a new soaring club (Boise, ID). I am
frequently asked by interested people about the safety of soaring,
especially compared to power flight.

Does anyone have the published statistics of soaring and powered flight
(even with the inherent errors mentioned above)? What are the
"official" numbers for soaring & powered accident rates?

Thanks,

I would be very interested in hearing more numbers on the accident rates of
aerotows in the US vs. winch launches in Europe.

Mike Schumann

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am in the process of starting a new soaring club (Boise, ID). I am
frequently asked by interested people about the safety of soaring,
especially compared to power flight.

Does anyone have the published statistics of soaring and powered flight
(even with the inherent errors mentioned above)? What are the
"official" numbers for soaring & powered accident rates?

Thanks,