Is there any source of reliable accident or safety data available on ultralight vehicles (FAA Part 103 or similar)?
I'm interested in comparing them to other aircraft types.
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4$\begingroup$ Did you search through the NTSB Accident Database? One aircraft category you can choose from is "Ultralight", and then you can further narrow it down if you wish. $\endgroup$– Ron BeyerJul 28, 2016 at 1:25
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2$\begingroup$ As the NTSB, The french BEA also publish reports for ultralight (e.g. this one) $\endgroup$– Manu HJul 28, 2016 at 5:07
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1$\begingroup$ @RonBeyer Assuming I am looking at how safe they are built and not necessarily how well the pilot's can fly wouldn't the data be biased slightly because ultralights require no license to fly? $\endgroup$– WilliamJul 31, 2016 at 1:05
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$\begingroup$ There aren't that many reports, you could always look for things like structural failure, engine failure, etc in the reports and narrow it down like that. $\endgroup$– Ron BeyerJul 31, 2016 at 2:33
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This could match your need albeit this is a study from the Finnish Accident Investigation Board, based mostly on Finland numbers over 20 years:
Chapter 9, page 87, also introduces information about other countries related to what they do regarding investigation: Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
There is a comparison between ultralights and other types likes gliders and GA aircraft:
Source: Accident Investigation Board
Interestingly, while accidents are decreasing in Finland, this is the opposite trend in France (French article from UL federation, based on insurance notifications, from 15 fatalities in 2006 to 30 in 2010). Maybe just a matter of pilots number increasing.
Related:
- Microlight/Ultralight Accident Statistics - Adventure/sport/aircraft: France, Germany, UK, Australia, Canada. From this document: "There is no good accident data for ultralights in the US".
- Aviation statistics, including ultralights (1998–2007) Canada, TSB.
- British Microlight Accident Analysis, many criteria (MS Word).
- Recreational aviation risk survey - Finnish Transport Safety Agency.
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$\begingroup$ This is great! Do you know off hand if the ultralights require a license in any of those states? Part of the issue is that if there is higher requirements in one state over another it is quite likely that those are altering the crash statistics. $\endgroup$– WilliamAug 15, 2016 at 18:36
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1$\begingroup$ See 5.1 Ultralight Pilot Licence requirements for Finland. For the other respondends to the survey, it's not said, but I think that if they have a licence requirement, then they investigate accidents, this information is available from the survey. The Finnish report take this element into account in its analysis (from what I've seen by reading very quickly). $\endgroup$– minsAug 15, 2016 at 18:48