Michael wrote:

Sam Spade wrote:

But, my
observations over 50 years of being around this stuff tells me that
experienced pilots seldom crash on good VFR daytime operations.


True enough. However, my observation is that pilots who limit
themselves to nothing but good VFR daytime operations never do become
experienced (they quit after a few hundred hours because flying just
isn't useful under those restrictions), so that doesn't help.

Michael

The OP stated,
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I've had many non-pilot friends and co-workers ask, "Is flying a small
plane more or less dangerous than driving a car?", to which my response
has always been "It depends on who is piloting the plane."
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Your observation is from the pilot perspective. A better answer to the
OP would include both pilot experience and type of operation.

I have always admonished my non-flying friends and relatives to only fly
with an experienced pilot and only during solid Day VFR conditions.
That will fit them into the safety slot I feel they deserve to be in.

If the pilot who they fly with chooses to fly at other times during the
night in IMC, dodging TRWs in the Rockies with his XM weather display,
that risk is not imposed upon those I am advising.