Private Pilot Progress: Where Do We Fall Down?

This project suggests that we examine training curriculum for areas that need reinforcement. In this study the electronic flight records of sixty-seven participants enrolled in the private pilot curriculum were studied to understand which lessons were most failed and which objectives were most responsible for the failure. Findings show that lessons immediately before important milestones such as solo and end of course checks were failed the most. The objectives failed in those lessons revolved mostly around landing techniques but also included items such as aeronautical decision making and diversion to alternate

A Study of How Flight Instructors Assess Flight Maneuvers and Give Grades: Inter-rater Reliability of Instructor Assessments

This article discusses calibration of flight instruction to an academic institution’s “gold standard”. Flight instructors reviewed four lessons within the private pilot curriculum. Each lesson required rating four maneuvers and assigning an overall letter grade. Data was compared to the gold standard set by flight faculty from the institution. Initial data revealed instructors with one year or less of experience had less agreement to the gold standard. A curriculum to rate maneuvers and grade lessons was developed and practice sessions occurred in instructor meetings starting Fall 2013. Post-test results show improvement in agreement in one year or less experienced group

VFR-into-IMC Accident Trends: Perceptions of Deficiencies in Training

Pilots who operate under visual flight rules (VFR) and in visual meteorological conditions, who then continue flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), remain as one of the leading causes of fatal aircraft accidents in general aviation. This paper examines past and current research initiatives, in seeking to identify causal factors and gaps in training that lead to VFR-into-IMC aircraft accidents, using a mixed methods approach. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute database and the National Transportation Safety Board database search engines were used to identify accident reports associated with VFR flight into IMC/deteriorating weather conditions for a 10-year time period (2003 to 2012). A national survey was also conducted to gain deeper insight into the self-identified training deficiencies of pilots. There is evidence that situational awareness is linked to decision-making, and there is a lack of proper training with regards to weather and weather technology concepts, making it difficult for pilots to gain these knowledge areas, skills, and abilities throughout their initial flight training and subsequent experience

Collegiate Aviation Safety Reporting Systems

The Federal Aviation Administration has paid close attention to the safety reporting systems of the airline industry over the last thirty years. The Aviation Safety Action Programs, housed at NASA, allow pilots and crews to report safety issues into a central database that tracks these reports and provides valuable knowledge to the industry on safety related issues. However extrapolating information that is pertinent to general aviation from these reports, specifically collegiate aviation, is difficult. One of the barriers to data collection is having a commonly understood language among reporters in order to ensure accurate information is reported. The goals of this project include steps to better understand the hurdles that have impeded safety initiatives at the collegiate level; identification of a common language with operational definitions that would be used in tracking safety information; and to conduct initial testing of the common language in a currently used reporting system