How dangerous is soaring?

Almost every week on this
group, we get another sad message informing yet another fatality. And
most of the cases, pilots has been extremely experiensed. We know that
they haven't done any stupid moves, they just lost the control of the
plane on wrong situation or the plane has failed on them.

This is unfortunately not a very accurate picture. The newsgroup tends
to hear of the "extremely experienced" category, but the majority of
the 4-6 fatalities per year in the US are fairly simple screwups
around the home airport.

The vast majority of the fatalities among the "extremely experienced"
pilots also come down to fairly simple pilot errors -- trying to ridge
soar some tiny bump in a strong wind, thermal up off the middle of the
canyon, make that last desperate transition, flying over unlandable
terrain because "there is sure to be a thermal there" and so forth.
More experienced pilots take greater risks. Fatalities from "losing
control" or "the plane has failed on them" are essentially unheard
of.

So here's the bottom line. Flying gliders is not inherently risky. We
only fly in good weather, our systems are very simple, and there is no
engine to fail. This rules out 90% of the causes of accidents in light
planes. If our pilot training and rules of engagement were the same as
that of the airlines, our fatality rate would be less then theirs.

That's why numbers are misleading. It's not Russian roulette, with the
question "how many chambers are loaded?'" A danger rate anywhere
between extreme motocross and airline flying is entirely in your own
hands.

The accident-waiting-to-happen takes this fact and says "they were all
pilot errors. A truly skilled pilot like me would never do something
so stupid." This is a good defense mechanism, but a wiser pilot (or
spouse!) will notice that the pilots who crashed felt the same way.

The wiser pilot remembers the temptations to which his much more
skilled and accomplished friends fell, and understands "where they
failed I could fail as well." He studies obsessively, makes
contingency plans and sets personal limits, and runs through his
checklist once more.

Why do we do it? In the end, there is nothing in the world like the
sense of wonder and accomplishment at the end of a long cross-country
soaring day.

John Cochrane