I always recommend this book to new pilots, The Killing Zone, Second Edition: How & Why Pilots Die (Amazon Link).
It really dives into this from a data driven perspective from aircraft mishaps. It shows that pilots from 50-350 hours are at the highest risk of mishap, attributed to some of the things noted in this thread.
"The Killing Zone" is a good book for student pilots in General Aviation. The tagline of the book is "how and why pilots die." Here is an amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404
It's $20, and if you use Amazon Smile donations, please consider Candler Field Museum. Our founder, Ron Alexander, recently died in a Jenny crash here in town and the museum can use all the help we can get.
Don’t stop there. Do IFR immediately after. It’ll tighten up your tolerances and a lot of the stuff that’s not clear to you now will be after that. Makes you a much safer pilot. Also, read some incident reports and study some crashes. It’ll teach you a lot. Read this also. Know the reasons for and effects of wing sweep and dihedral/anhedral angles. I’m sure your instructor will tell you, but always know what’s in the logbooks of your check ride plane and never ever offer more info to a DPE than they asked for. Many a student have failed the ride because they talked themselves into more questions than they were asked.
Excuse the expression but you're speaking out your ass. The weather was not good AND he knew it. He was doing his IR but not complete which is one of the most dangerous times in your training. I believe this "accident" is covered in The Killing Zone.
Even though this isn't exactly the question you're asking, a large part of the answer lies with the pilot. At the very, very minimum you would need to be an instrument-rated pilot because of the conditions the often prevail over that route. You'd want to have a bunch of hours in actual IMC conditions, a bunch of hours in training in emergency procedures including ditching, and a bunch of hours in turbulence, rain, etc. And, then you'd want to have enough hours that you've had the close calls, gone on those flights that you later realize weren't necessarily the best idea, and learned enough to understand that extreme caution is good for longevity. I'm thinking 500 hours minimum. There's a reason why pilots with 100 to 400 hours fly in the killing zone. Once you get your PPL, you should read https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404 before even considering that flight. I, personally, would not make that flight in even the most reliable single engine piston. I'd need a turboprop before I even thought about it.
Does he appreciate data? This book is well regarded in the flying community. Morbid topic for non-flyers but it's full of insights that keep us alive which is what flying GA is (mostly) about.
I recommend the book "The Killing Zone: How & Why Pilots Die" by Paul Craig (non-affiliate link); it has some good discussion of how accidents and incidents can happen.
Glad to hear it... As long as you never put yourself in a position where you have to fly for whatever reason, should be fine.
Also, check out the book "The Killing Zone" ( https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404 ). Apparently, some of his numbers are off, but its a great overview of how pilots get themselves killed and how to avoid those situations.
Thanks. I am almost done reading The Killing Zone, Second Edition: How & Why Pilots Die. I am not going to end up in the third edition.
The Killing Zone, Second Edition: How & Why Pilots Die https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071798404/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4Mr6CbNZCBHET
This is a good read and addresses your question.
Experience does not necessarily protect you from the additional dangers that come with the "bigger" flying you'll do once you are more experienced.
Some of the conclusions of "The Killing Zone" https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404 are that more experienced pilots are safer, but some of the analyses in that study are statistically flawed.
In short, at every stage of your path, you'll be given far more rope to hang yourself with than skills to escape it, so you always need to exercise judgment and avoid putting yourself in situations where you run out of options.
Recent GA deaths and crashes follow the same causal patters as the older incidents.
You might not like some of the cartoonish traits of Dan Gryder, but his push for the AQP is valuable. https://www.aviation101.com/_files/ugd/18095e_a6bc15568fa645b3b86be782c419ccf3.pdf
I agree with him that the ACS are outdated and some of the stuff they contain is irrelevant to the safety of actual flying, and many important skills that are crucial to the safety of actual GA flying are NOT in the ACS.
GA is far more dangerous than driving and that is an incredible statistic given just how dangerous driving is.
OP should read this book:
The Killing Zone, Second Edition: How & Why Pilots Die https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071798404/
yeahhh fair point. The Killing Zone by Paul Craig (https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404) is a good book I found on this sub which I think is good for people new to flying to read
Read a copy of https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404. My interpretation is it’s on par with motorcycles. Some people are simply unlucky. But a lot of the risk is from poor decisions.
Most crashes are those outside of the inexperienced ranged and before the highly experienced range. Between 50-350 hours.
https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Zone-Second-How-Pilots/dp/0071798404
I recommend you read The Killing Zone - Why pilots die