Thirty-two pilots lost control, according to the NTSB, and another 20 were involved in low and slow flight. Better than one aircraft a week fell into this category, which shows that an understanding of basic airmanship never goes out of style. Considerable time is spent in primary training teaching stalls and stall recognition. It is worth noting that the majority of fatal stalls occur at traffic pattern altitudes or below, and not at the rather extreme attitudes that are sometimes seen in contrived training scenarios. Distractions such as following traffic ahead, not allowing for proper drift correction, or reconfiguring the air-craft are enough to put some pilots over the edge.
Personal flights are consistently the most dangerous.
An estimated 43 percent of all flying is done for personal reasons, and yet these flights resulted in almost three-quarters of the fatal accidents. This trend is well-established and doesn t change much from year to year. Apparently, business pilots may fly more capable equipment, be more willing to scrub a trip, or may simply have more experience. Likely, it is a combination of all of these factors. Flight instruction, as mentioned, continues to have a good safety record.