I attended a John and Martha King seminar a few years ago where they quoted statistics that the airlines are 49 times safer than GA.  I think it was based on fatal accidents, maybe hours flown or miles flown, not sure.  But...

 

Their reasoning was that the airline pilots, with 200 people sitting behind them in the airliner, have a different attitude towards risk taking.  They also said that airline pilots are only slightly safer than private pilots when flying GA aircraft.  They said skill has very little to do with it, it's judgement.

 

They said that better equipment, standard routes, standard operating procedures, recurrent training, etc. all contribute to the better safety record of the airlines, but the Kings believe that the real issue is our attitude towards risk taking.

 

The Kings suggest that GA pilots should ask themselves, "Would I do this if I had a couple hundred paying passengers sitting behind me?"  If the answer is "no" then why would you do it with yourself and your loved ones in the airplane.

 

For what it's worth.

Mike Easley

Colorado Springs