The fatal accidents we have had fall into two categories: typical accidents and rather unusual and unexplained ones. I have participated in almost every one of these NTSB investigations, gaining 30 years of experience with these airplanes, including a time when the company was manufacturing kits. The time period between 2014 and 2017 was rough for Flight Design and 2016 in particular was a witching hour for the whole S-LSA industry, with almost three times the statistical average of the years before and after. As was said, the fleet numbers, particularly by type, are so small that there is a lot of uncertainly in the ability to predict much from the raw data.
Paul Bertorelli’s article on LSA accidents in the August 2018 Aviation Consumer was a fair and balanced look at the relative safety of S-LSA models compared to non-LSA ones in similar use. While this report separates nonsense from truth, I have several comments.
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