Sports aviation accidents: fatality and aircraft specificity.
BACKGROUND
Sports aviation is a special category of general aviation characterized by diverse aircraft types and a predominantly recreational flight operation. A general comparison of aircraft accidents within sports aviation is missing, but should guide future research.


METHODS
A comparison of accidents in sports aviation was made using 2118 records from the National Transportation Safety Board for the period 1982-2007. In addition, the available denominator data from the Federal Aviation Administration were used to interpret the data.


RESULTS
The highest number of accidents was found with gliders (N = 991), but the highest relative number of fatal accidents came from ultra-light (45%) and gyroplane operations (40%), which are homebuilt more often than other aircraft types. The most common cause of accident in sports aviation was in-flight planning and decision-making (N = 200, 9.4%). The most frequent occurrences were hard landings and undershoots, of which the numbers differ significantly from one aircraft type to the other.


CONCLUSIONS
Homebuilt aircraft are at particular risk in sports aviation. Although denominator data remain problematic for motorized sports aviation, these aircraft show a high proportion of homebuilt aircraft and, more importantly, a higher relative number of fatal accidents.
Department of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA. adevoogt@amnh.org
Alexander J
AJ
de Voogt
Robert R A
RR
van Doorn
D000060:Accidents, Aviation / Q000401:mortality*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000401:Aircraft / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult