General Aviation Leveloff, Roundout, and Accident Rate Analysis.

AIR pilots; AERONAUTICS education; AIRCRAFT accidents; LANDING of airplanes; FLIGHT training; AIRPLANE piloting

Transitioning the aircraft from the approach attitude to the landing attitude is one of the first obstacles that confronts student pilots. This visually guided procedure is known as the landing flare but is poorly understood and underreported. To stimulate interest in and accentuate the importance of the landing flare, in this study, we analyzed 6,655 National Transportation Safety Board accident reports and surveyed 92 aviators in two Part 141 flight schools. The results show that flare accidents accounted for 17.88% of landing accidents, that the landing flare was equated with the roundout, and that the procedures used to round out the aircraft were obscure. Practical recommendations are provided for future studies and flight training instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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