How Digital Safety Systems Could Revolutionize Aviation Safety

General aviation (GA), the segment of aviation characterized by small personal aircraft, accounts for 95% of the fatalities in US civil aviation with 419 deaths a year on average. These numbers are disturbingly high when compared to other air transportation modes and even when compared to automobile travel. As this paper shows, general aviation is between 8 to 15 times more dangerous than driving when calculated per vehicle mile traveled (VMT). These statistics prompt several questions. For one, which modern technologies can help to bring GA safety to the level of other transportation modes? Secondly, would the substantial effort required to bring these systems to GA be effective in preventing fatalities? This article presents critical analysis designed to answer these questions. The work covers three safety technologies originally developed for military aircraft that are primed to make their way into general aviation cockpits. Among these are digital safety systems including Terrain Collision Avoidance, Stall/Spin Prevention and Recovery, and Emergency Forced Landing systems. Results derived from detailed analysis of 2,805 finalized fatal accidents investigations produced by the US National Transportation Safety Board, show that over two thirds (68%) of the general aviation fatalities could be avoided through the use of at least one of the three proposed digital safety systems. The potential life savings afforded by these systems could be dramatic and could hasten the transition to highly autonomous and highly safe small aircraft operation for future air transportation.