AOPA Helps Pilots Learn from Others' Mistakes

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Air Safety Foundation (AOPA-ASF) helps pilots avoid accidents by learning from their peers' mistakes.

"Accident Case Study: VFR into IMC," available online in a few days, enables pilots to learn from each other in a very analytical context, David Wright, AOPA-ASF Vice President of Operations, said.

The case study is based on information gathered from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). It also uses Microsoft Flight Simulator and actual ATC audio to re-create events that led to the fatal 2006 crash near Heber City, Utah.

New graphics and other materials make the process as real as possible, Wright said.

"This vivid storytelling is unlike anything ASF has produced to date," the course description said. "By highlighting the many opportunities the pilot had to reverse his fate, we hope to keep others from sharing it."

AOPA has offered online training, a more accessible medium than live seminars, since 2001. Every month, AOPA's online courses are completed 30,000 times. Its live seminars are completed 40,000 times every year.