Faulty decision-making was the cause of most of Idaho’s 22 general-aviation accidents in 2016, according to a report by Idaho’s Division of Aeronautics.
The majority of the accidents, 73 percent, were pilot error, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) ruled, while 9 percent were attributed to mechanical or maintenance issues, 5 percent were environmental, and 5 percent had unknown causes. Fourteen percent of the accidents still are under investigation.
Sixty-eight percent of the accidents happened during the takeoff or landing phase of flight.
The data for the division’s report came from NTSB database. The report compares with previous years’ totals, the number of general aviation accidents, pilot qualifications, class of aircraft and fatalities.
Aircraft accidents decreased from 28 in 2015 to 22 in 2016 and fatal accidents fell by three in 2015 to one fatal incident in 2016.
“With this data, we can identify a particular area of emphasis when planning workshops and trainings for the next year,” Jim Hinen, head of Idaho Division of Aeronautics’ safety/education unit, said.
The division set the goal in 2013 of reducing the state’s accident rate 50 percent by 2018.
Compared to neighboring states, Idaho has a higher per-capita accident rate. In 2016, only Nevada, Washington and Oregon had higher accident rates.