Hard truths about aviation safety, with Douglas Boyd

Hard truths about aviation safety, with Douglas Boyd

From Pilot's Discretion from Sporty's by Sporty's Pilot Shop

April 21, 2026 · 44 min · Season 1 · Episode 128

About this episode

Douglas Boyd discusses the current state of aviation safety and shares insights from his research.

The GA accident rate is getting better, but aviation safety researcher Douglas Boyd says there’s still plenty of work to do. He shares a fascinating array of statistics in this episode, pulled from the 300+ papers he has authored, including how many hours is enough to stay proficient, what really causes landing accidents, and the truth about older pilots’ safety record. In the Ready to Copy segment, Dr. Boyd talks about flying out of CG, whether engine TBO really matters, and the best places to visit in Scotland. SHOW LINKS: * Airline vs. GA pilot safety: https://commons.erau.edu/publication/1494/ * Aging pilots study: https://commons.erau.edu/publication/2419/ * PJ2 GPS Radio: https://sportys.com/PJ2GPS

People in this episode

Guest: Douglas Boyd

Topics covered

  • aviation safety
  • GA accident rate
  • pilot proficiency
  • landing accidents
  • older pilots
  • flying out of CG
  • engine TBO

Keywords

  • aviation safety
  • GA accident rate
  • pilot proficiency
  • landing accidents
  • older pilots
  • Douglas Boyd
  • Scotland

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sporty's Pilot Shop

Products: PJ2 GPS Radio

Books & works: GA accident rate, Aging pilots study

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