The AOPA Air Safety Institute has released an early analysis of a fatal July 2026 Beechcraft Baron crash in Illinois. Two private pilots without instrument ratings encountered severe weather at night. The accident highlights the critical dangers of datalink weather latency and flying near thunderstorms.
Air Safety Institute
AOPA’s Air Safety Institute Releases Accident Case Study: Night Falls on Final
The AOPA Air Safety Institute’s latest Accident Case Study, Night Falls on Final, analyzes the tragic 2019 crash of a Piper Saratoga. Discover how lost instrument currency, fatigue, and marginal weather combined, causing an experienced pilot to become fatally disoriented during a challenging night approach.
New Video Analyzes Loss of Propeller In Flight
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute has released an Early Analysis video looking at a recent incident with a Cessna 172S that included the loss of the propeller in flight.
What Can We Learn From Insurance Claims to Become Better Pilots?
In a new episode of SocialFlight Live, Jeff Simon talks with Mike Ginter from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute about the accident and incident data that the NTSB doesn’t see, taking a deep dive into Avemco Insurance Company claims data from 2012-2022. What can you learn from other pilots’ misfortunes to make you a safer pilot?
High Desert Disaster
The Accident Case Study recreates the tragic events that led a novice backcountry pilot to crash on final approach to a backcountry airstrip in California’s Mojave Desert in 2021, killing both himself and his pilot-rated passenger.
Expert Insights Video Series Takes Off
The new series features interviews with specialists in their fields, who give pilots information on a wide range of topics relevant to general aviation safety, as well as tips they can use right away.
Early Analysis of Steamboat Springs Accident Released
A new video from the Air Safety Institute looks at the Feb. 13, 2026, accident that claimed four lives.
GA accidents down, flight hours up
Key takeaways from the latest report from the Air Safety Institute show that in 2023 there were 1,097 general aviation accidents in the United States, including 186 that were fatal. The overall accident rate fell to 3.86 per 100,000 flight hours, down from 4.3 in 2022, and the fatal accident rate declined to 0.65 from 0.68 the year before.
New AOPA video examines crash that killed one of its own
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute (ASI) has released a new video examining an accident in Lake Placid, New York, on Oct. 1, 2023, that took the lives of former NFL player Russ Francis and AOPA’s own Richard McSpadden.