BUFFALO, N.Y. — Airplane safety is top of mind for some in Western New York after four small plane crashes in the past month, three of which were deadly.
The circumstances in Akron on May 15, Lyndonville on May 28, Jamestown on June 6, and Porter on June 11 are all still being investigated by federal transportation safety officials.
And while these crashes are concerning and tragic, federal data from the National Transportation Safety Board suggests that accidents in general aviation continue to trend downward.
General aviation includes all non-commercial flights in the United States.
In 2021 general aviation accounted for 21,965,783 flight hours according to data from the NTSB and 1,157 accidents. Compared to 1,837 accidents across approximately 27,838,000 two decades earlier in the year 2000, a decrease from 6.50 accidents per 100,000 flight hours to 5.26 accidents.
Finalized data for 2022 has not been released although preliminary results found using the Case Analysis and Reporting Online (CAROL) system show 1,267 general aviation accidents.
Todd Cameron, the Chief Flight Instructor and owner of OnCore Aviation located in Buffalo and Rochester partially credits that decrease to the strict and extensive testing process to get a pilot's license and the safety standards taught from start to finish.
"The FAA says you can do it in 40 hours but nobody is really ready in 40 hours. We see the Western New York average to be 75 to 85 hours of flight time to acquire a private pilot certificate," said Cameron.
Improvements in airplane technology and the use of flight simulators have also helped improve safety.
Cameron said when crashes do happen especially in Western New York's fairly tight and storied aviation community, it is tragic. The pilots killed are sometimes friends or at least known professionally he said.
"The industry as a whole because of our mindset for safety takes the opportunity to learn about what happened how could it be avoided, what are the initiatives in the industry that we can put energy into so we avoid something like that in the future and unfortunately sometimes we may not know and unfortunately it's just a tragedy," Cameron added.
It is not believed any of the crashes are connected although NTSB officials and New York State Police have said more accidents typically occur this time of year when pilots especially in the Northeast are eager to get airborne after the winter months.
While not referencing any crash specifically Cameron compared it to being a soccer player who hasn't played for a couple of months:
"You're going to be a little bit rusty," he said.
OnCore Aviation is hosting a 'Rusty Pilots Seminar' on June 17 at the Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester International Airport (KROC) in partnership with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) to help get pilots up to speed after the winter break.
"There's an opportunity to get them back into the game, get them back into a plane with an instructor, and get them proficient again," said Cameron.
The ultimate hope is; the long-term trend in general aviation continues
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