Over the past decade, scheduled passenger airlines in the U.S. have amassed a remarkable safety record. On February 12 next year, Part 121 air carriers will have operated nearly 160 million flights over a 10-year period with only a single passenger fatality. On the other hand, the business aviation community, in particular the Part 135 on-demand operators, by comparison has been less safe.
Using last year’s NTSB accident rates, on-demand 135 operators had an accident rate almost eight times that of the scheduled airlines. Following a series of fatal Part 91 and 135 accidents, the NTSB recently pointed to the need for business aviation operators to adopt the many safety programs employed by the major airlines. According to John DeLisi, director of the NTSB’s Office of Aviation Safety, a lot of things have come together to have fatal airliner accidents “completely wiped off the map.” The trick for smaller operators will be to frame these programs to best fit into their organization.
Pilot, safety expert, consultant, and aviation journalist Stuart “Kipp” Lau writes about flight safety and airmanship for AIN.
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