FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 9, 2010

NTSB STUDY SHOWS INTRODUCTION OF ‘GLASS COCKPITS’ IN GENERAL
AVIATION AIRPLANES HAS NOT LED TO EXPECTED SAFETY
IMPROVEMENTS

Washington, DC — Today the National Transportation Safety
Board adopted a study concluding that single engine
airplanes equipped with glass cockpits had no better overall
safety record than airplanes with conventional
instrumentation.

The safety study, which was adopted unanimously by the
Safety Board, was initiated more than a year ago to
determine if light airplanes equipped with digital primary
flight displays, often referred to as “glass cockpits,” were
inherently safer than those equipped with conventional
instruments.

The study, which looked at the accident rates of over 8,000
small piston-powered airplanes manufactured between 2002 and
2006, found that those equipped with glass cockpits had a
higher fatal accident rate then similar aircraft with
conventional instruments.

The Safety Board determined that because glass cockpits are
both complex and vary from aircraft to aircraft in function,
design and failure modes, pilots are not always provided
with all of the information they need — both by aircraft
manufacturers and the Federal Aviation Administration — to
adequately understand the unique operational and functional
details of the primary flight instruments in their
airplanes.

NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman highlighted the role that
training plays in preventing accidents involving these
airplanes.

“As we discussed today, training is clearly one of the key
components to reducing the accident rate of light planes
equipped with glass cockpits, and this study clearly
demonstrates the life and death importance of appropriate
training on these complex systems,” said Hersman. “We know
that while many pilots have thousands of hours of experience
with conventional flight instruments, that alone is just not
enough to prepare them to safely operate airplanes equipped
with these glass cockpit features.”

Today, nearly all newly manufactured piston-powered light
airplanes are equipped with digital primary flight displays.
And the number of older airplanes being retrofitted with
these systems continues to grow.

“While the technological innovations and flight management
tools that glass cockpit equipped airplanes bring to the
general aviation community should reduce the number of fatal
accidents, we have not — unfortunately — seen that happen,”
said Hersman. “The data tell us that equipment-specific
training will save lives. To that end, we have adopted
recommendations today responsive to that data —
recommendations on pilot knowledge testing standards,
training, simulators, documentation and service difficulty
reporting so that the potential safety improvements that
these systems provide can be realized by the general
aviation pilot community.”

Based on the study findings, the NTSB made six safety
recommendations to the FAA: 1) enhance pilot knowledge and
training requirements; 2) require manufacturers to provide
pilots with information to better manage system failures; 3)
incorporate training elements regarding electronic primary
flight displays into training materials and aeronautical
knowledge requirements; 4) incorporate training elements
regarding electronic primary flight displays into initial
and recurrent flight proficiency requirements for pilots of
small light general aviation airplanes equipped with those
systems, that address variations in equipment design and
operations of such displays; 5) support equipment-specific
pilot training programs by developing guidance for the use
of glass cockpit simulators other than those that are
approved by the FAA as flight training devices; and 6)
inform the general aviation community about the importance
of reporting malfunctions or defects with electronic flight,
navigation and control systems through the Service
Difficulty Reporting system.

The complete safety study will be available at www.ntsb.gov
in several weeks.