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Editor: James T. Crouse
Profession: Aviation Accident Attorney

Category: Plane Crashes

According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, general aviation flights account for most of the crashes, injuries, and deaths in U.S. aviation. In fact, the risk is 82 times greater than for major airlines. General aviation flights include small private planes and business jets including use for recreation, emergency medical services, firefighting, sightseeing, traffic reporting and other purposes.

Researching data from 2002 to 2005, general aviation was found to make up 91% of all U.S. aviation crashes and 94% of all aviation deaths. Factors that may contribute to this is that the smaller planes aren't able to withstand the impact forces thereby protecting those on board and they haven't made the improvements major airlines have in the last years - such as seat strength, etc. The FAA and NTSB have been urged to do more to improve safety of small airplanes.