I most often hear this question from prospective pilots and their families. It’s also the question that comes up most often at a party if someone finds out I’m a flight instructor. The question starts from a perception (driven mostly by media reports) that these “little planes” fall out of the sky with regularity. What is true is that every small plane crash is news. That should be an indicator that the event is unusual. Most car fatalities hardly merit a line in the newspaper noting who died, because we kill 30-40,000 people annually in the US in motor vehicle accidents. Continue reading →