This process should be allowed to continue The weather team has already completed the analysis and is working on the intervention strategies. Industry and FAA have already implemented some of them. In continuing pilot education, the Air Safety Foundation has been a leader in weather education, offering over 1,000 free seminars over the past five years focussed on the topics of weather and pilot decision making. Ironically, this month in AOPA Pilot magazine there is an article on the Piper Saratoga and another on ditching an aircraft in the water. AOPA s Flight Training magazine, aimed at students and flight instructors, also has an article on obtaining the instrument rating.
Pilot training is only the beginning of the path toward being a safe pilot.
Experience and continuing education are essential, and each pilot must gain experience in a responsible manner. Just as a teenager with a new driver s license shouldn t drive on a crowded interstate highway on a rainy night, a pilot should build up flying experience that allows for safe flight appropriate for the conditions at hand. U.S. Aviation has recently achieved new milestones in safety. In 1998, the major and regional airlines experienced a fatality-free year despite millions of flights. The Nall Report shows that 1997, the latest year with complete data , had the lowest overall U.S. accident rate in the history of general aviation.