The troubling news is the annual average appears stagnant and we have a worrisome number of near misses. Our training in visual scans, radio use, and procedures in cruise and the traffic pattern have helped to make midairs rare, but we can make them extinct and reduce the number of close calls. We’ll need to capitalize on new technologies, such as ADS-B; learn how and when to use them most effectively; recommit to discipline on established procedures; and utilize new techniques when appropriate to drive midairs to zero.
The AOPA Air Safety Institute analyzed midair collisions and determined that collisions in cruise, especially a near-head-on collision, are exceptionally rare. More likely, the impact in cruise will occur converging from the side, and the highest probability of an impact in cruise will occur with one aircraft overtaking the other.
The greatest risk of a midair collision appears to be in or near the traffic pattern. Airplanes converging to the same relative point in the sky are more likely to create conflicts as the “big sky” gets squeezed. Most midair collisions happen within five miles of an airport.
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