Why Soaring's Safety Record Doesn't Improve

Gill Couto wrote in message news:Jh5pc.51$xi.38@fed1read07...
That's the same as asking why highway accidents can't be reduced.
The same goes for motorcycles, skydiving, and anything worth doing.

gill



There has been a small but real population adjusted reduction in auto
accidents in this country over the last 20-30 years. Training and
higher standards, while politically unpopular, would, IMHO, further
reduce the rate. However, because driving (and driving badly) is seen
as a right in this country, most recent efforts have concentrated on
reducing the impact (pun intended) of the inevitable accidents by
improvements in vehicle structure and performance, as well as the use
of airbags and seatbelts.

Because these sorts of engineering improvements are largely
unavailable to us in gliders (a whole other discussion), any
improvement in our accident statistics will have to come as a result
of improved pilot knowledge and performance.

Unfortunately age conspires to diminish important faculties like
vision, reaction, memory, etc., the effect being only partially
compensated by experience. There are lots of pilots out there who say
"I've forgotten more than you'll ever know". Probably true but,
unfortunately, some of that "more than you'll ever know" may be
important to their safety.

It may be that our aging pilot base needs as much (or more) training /
retraining and evaluation as our beginners to permit adequate
self-assessment and to counteract these inevitible effects.

Raphael Warshaw
Claremont, CA