10 Years of Data Visualized in General Aviation Accident Dashboard

The National Transportation Safety Board has developed a new public-facing tool to analyze data regarding general aviation accident investigations.

All too often a somewhat underdeveloped area of aeronautical safety, the inclusion of a specific subset of GA info within the The General Aviation Accident Dashboard is great to see as the industry looks to refine itself to be as safe as it can be. While recent years have shown promising trends in areas of GA flight, the usual bugbears of Loss of Control and flight into terrain remain, among others. The dashboard provides summary statistics, investigative findings and safety recommendations for general aviation accidents from 2012 through 2021. 

The system allows users to more intuitively display accident information, reports and statistics by selecting one or more filters for year, location, phase of flight and defining event. Accident findings are displayed in a branching menu based on the same 4-level hierarchy the NTSB uses to break down its investigative findings, though most visitors will likely select the presets to select their desired findings. With an entire decade of high-quality, accurate data available, the NTSB hopes that the new database will arm fellow aviation stakeholders with a simple, streamlined way to bolster the industry's safety record.

“The NTSB has always been a data-driven agency and the proof is in our safety recommendations — every one of which is evidence-based,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “Similarly, we want to maximize the number of stakeholders and researchers who can draw safety lessons from our accident data. That’s exactly what we hope this dashboard will accomplish.”

FMI: www.ntsb.gov