

In some cases, it can cause a total loss of control of an aircraft. This is the turbulence that forms behind an aircraft as it moves through the air, causing wingtip vortices.Ī smaller aircraft, whether during the takeoff, climb, following, approach, or landing stage of a flight, can get caught up and be affected by this turbulence. While all aircraft are designed to be able to withstand most turbulence, smaller planes are particularly susceptible to wake turbulence.

Larger planes also have more advanced safety systems like traffic advisory and avoidance systems, along with terrain avoidance, predictive windshear warning, and de-icing systems. In fact, some of the more advanced planes even feature three flight computers that all function independently from each other, with each containing three different processors manufactured by different companies. RedundanciesĪs you might expect, larger planes are more complex and therefore have more redundancies in place to protect against everything from electrical faults to lighting strikes. This occurs when an airplane is no longer at a speed or angle to create lift. The FAA has stated that the primary cause of general aviation fatalities is in-flight loss of control, primarily from aerodynamic stalls. While this goes some way in reducing the number of accidents, it by no means reduces the majority of them. These include not being able to fly at night or under low visibility and cloudy conditions.
#Small filesafe license#
To be eligible for a private pilot license, which allows a pilot to carry as many passengers as the aircraft they are legally allowed to fly can carry, 35-40 flight hours must be logged.īoth a recreational pilot license and a sport pilot license allow the carry of one passenger and require a minimum of 30 flight hours and 20 flight hours respectively.Ĭompare this to a commercial pilot license, which requires 190-250 flight hours, or an airline transport pilot license, which requires a minimum of 1,500 flight hours to be logged, and it’s easy to see why inexperience is one of the leading causes of aviation accidents.ĭepending on the type of license and whether an instrument rating has been acquired, there are certain restrictions in place. 5 Reasons Why Small Planes Are More Dangerous Pilot Error The reason why small planes are considered less safe and are involved in more accidents partly comes down to the very nature of flying a smaller plane and the problems and challenges it poses, as well pilot error too. The statistics show that small planes are involved in more accidents, and have a higher number of fatalities per million hours flown. However, this isn’t to say that all planes are as safe as each other. So much so that flying is now the safest mode of transportation – and there are statistics to prove it. Air transportation and aviation safety has made huge strides since the first flight took place at the turn of the 20th century.
