Study Examines Aircraft Tow Accidents

Sept. 22, 2016
Business Aviation Consulting Group VanAllen conducted a survey covering a 24-month span, from 2014 to 2015. A total of 80 aviation departments and FBOs participated.

To study aircraft tow accidents and gather related insight, Business Aviation Consulting Group VanAllen, located in Peachtree City, GA, conducted a survey covering a 24-month span, from 2014 to 2015. A total of 80 aviation departments and FBOs participated, and the findings were included in a recent release by TNA - Aviation Technologies.

The study found that:

  • 63 percent of the participants did not have a ground event during the study period while 37 percent of participants had one or more events during the study period.
  • There were a total of 64 events during the study period’s 168,810 aircraft legs.
  • Business Aviation has a fatal accident rate of about 0.00001 percent. It is about 3,800 times more likely to have a ground event than a fatal accident.

The study group indicated some of the most common sources of ground events, including:

  • 50 percent of events were “hangar rash” during hangar towing.
  • 33 percent of events were towing accidents.
  • 10 percent of events were ground vehicle / aircraft collisions.
  • 7 percent of events occurred during taxiing.

In order to address the ground event rate, the report stated insurers, NATA, IBAC, NBAA, FSF, major FBO chains and numerous ground support vendors are conducting awareness, training and certification programs.

There is data that suggests the rate of events is declining, according to the report.

For more information, visit www.AviationPros.com/12260391.