Real stats on engine failures?

Andrew Rowley wrote in message . ..
studentpilot wrote:

Know a bloke well with over 15'000 hours, he has had no engine failures.
He has had however 4 self inficted engine failures, these were fuel
system failures. Mostly failure to put enough in, failure to check
for water contamination properly, failure to know the aircraft fuel
system. This blokes expirence is all single engine, going from little
Lyc's to Radial's and turbine.

Why do you exclude fuel exhaustion, fuel contamination etc? Don't they
happen if you're IFR?

If you're IFR or at night it doesn't really matter WHY it stops.

Because I can control these problems. If I do a proper preflight, the
probability of fuel contamination is very, very low. If I do the
proper fuel calculations and check the fuel levels and carry proper
reserves, I'm not going to run out of gas.

This is about risk management. I can manage the risks of fuel
contamination or exhaustion very easily, if I exercise diligence and
care. If those are no longer concerns, the primary engine-related
concern becomes mechanical failure, and that's what I'm looking at.


Cap