Accident Reporting

Intro

philip after impact 1024x768If you are involved in, or witness an accident or incident, it is important that you report this to the IHPA Training Officer so that guidence can be offered towards the prevention of a reoccurence by other pilots. Do not assume that someone else will file a report, or that your report is not necessary because someone else has already done so. It is very useful to have more than one perspective on an accident or incident. Important details omitted in one report may appear in another. Ideally you should file a report on the same evening that an accident or incident occurs, while the details are still fresh in your memory. Don’t be embarrassed to make a report; everyone makes a mistake eventually! Your report will be treated confidentially and names are never released, though a summary and analysis of your report will be made available to members so that they can learn from your bad luck and hopefully avoid making the same mistake.

Reporting an accident is as important for the pilot making the report as anyone else, as it makes you go over the events leading up to the accident in detail and helps you to understand when and how things went wrong. Accidents are rarely caused by bad luck or a single event. They are most often the result of a chain of bad decisions, often starting long before the accident actually happens. Writing up a report helps the pilot to identify, understand and, hopefully, avoid these dangers in future.