Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) continues to be a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. Studies suggest that the leading factors involved in aviation accidents are human factors-related. Previous research efforts on accident causation have identified causes of LOC-I from sources such as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) database. GA accident reports in the NTSB include limited detail on human factor related causes such as types of pilot error and other underlying issues that lead to pilot error. Understanding specific pilot actions and the underlying conditions may help better focus GA training methods to prevent LOC-I accidents. To investigate how pilot actions and other unsafe conditions lead to LOC-I, we designed a web-based survey based on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework where pilots shared their LOC-I experiences. The findings from the study helped in identifying specific pilot errors and issues in training that lead to LOC-I and were not mentioned explicitly in the NTSB reports. 80% of the LOC-I events shared by the pilots involved pilot error, most of which were skill-based and decision errors. 25.8% of pilots mentioned that their instructor had not prepared them well or taught them methods to recover from LOC-I. Several pilots mentioned that because of their lack of LOC-I recovery training (such as upset, spin, spiral, and stall recovery), they could not recover from LOC-I.
Majumdar, Neelakshi and Marais, Karen. “A Survey of Pilots’ Experiences of Inflight Loss of Control Incidents and Training”. AVIATION 2022, AIAA, Chicago, Illinois, June 2022. https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-3778