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Bruce Landsberg is Vice Chairman of the NTSB.
There are four major causes of general aviation accidents, according to NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg. In this podcast interview, he reviews the latest safety trends, from VFR-into-IMC accidents to engine failures, and offers his tips for staying safe. He also shares some surprising statistics about the possible role of ADS-B traffic in reducing midair collisions, and explains why flight data monitoring should be adopted by far more GA pilots.
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Coming from an aviation family, John grew up in the back of small airplanes and learned to fly as a teenager. Ever since, he has been hooked on anything with wings and regularly flies a Citabria, a Pilatus PC-12, and a Cirrus SR22. He is an ATP and also holds ratings for multiengine, seaplanes, gliders, and helicopters. In addition to being Editor-in-Chief of Air Facts, John is the President of Sporty’s Pilot Shop, responsible for new product development and marketing.
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Excellent interview with Bruce Landsberg from the NTSB. He gained instant credibility when he mentioned that he is a GA aircraft owner and pilot. His comments on the GA knowledge base with regards to Autopilots is right on. This is true for rental aircraft (with some partially working Autopilots) and even pilot owned aircraft. Autopilots can save lives if we find ourselves in IMC but we need to understand how they work first!
It was reassuring that Bruce spoke about how the NTSB is working to reduce the timeline for final reports to be released and the impact that the legal system plays. However, more emphasis needs to be placed on the release of timely FINAL reports to help reduce accident rates.
A good discussion of important issues in the arena of safety in aviation. However, the notion of risk awareness, risk mitigation and the use of checklists was never mentioned — not surprising since it is also largely absent from GA pilot training and certification in favor of the hackneyed term risk management.
The number of crashes appears to have been driven down to a seemingly irreducible level due to this omission — it’s better than before but it’s as good as it’s going to get without a reformation that focuses on risk awareness and mitigation!
Gravity always wins!