“I’m going to make this thing fly, and then I am going to set it afire and I will never have another thing to do with an airplane”, a frustrated Clyde Cessna cried out after twelve failed attempts of trying to make his airplane fly. Alas, at the thirteenth attempt, his “Silverwing” airplane powered by a 40 horsepower, 2-stroke piston engine finally rose to an altitude of fifty feet (fifteen meters). But as the engine began overheating against the wind’s resistance, the engine stalled, and the aircraft hit the ground twice before coming to a stop. About a century after, the question “Are Cessnas safe?” still remains valid.
In general, Cessnas are safe to fly owing to the company’s profound experience in the aircraft manufacturing industry and adaptability to modern aircraft safety innovations. For instance, in one study, Cessna 172 had a fatality rate of 0.56 per 100,000 flying hours (the best in general aviation)!
Cessna has been producing planes since 1927 when it first became a company. And over the years, it has earned for itself the trademark for manufacturing sturdy and simple aircraft. Cessnas like the Cessna 170, Cessna 172, Cessna 182, Cessna Skyhawk, Cessna Skycatcher, and so on have proven with their low fatality rate that they are safe to fly as long as the pilots follow safety procedures and regular aircraft maintenance is done.
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Cessna: Safety Trademark
Cessna is one of the household names in the aviation business renowned for the production of small and light, piston-powered aircraft together with business jets. The firm is an American general aviation aircraft corporation founded in 1927, reputed for a long time to be one of the most popular and highest volume producers of general airplanes in the world.
Today, Cessna, a brand of Textron Aviation, with headquarters in Wichita, Kansas has successfully manufactured over 55 variant models of aircraft. Some of the available models include Cessna 172 Skyhawk, Cessna 182 Skylane, Cessna 206 Stationair, Cessna 208 Caravan, Cessna 408 Skycourier, Cessna Denali, and the Cessna Citation family.
The following are some of the marketing terminologies Cessna coined for itself to emphasize its keen attention to safety:
- Para-lift flaps: These are large flaps introduced for better stability to replace the traditional narrow flaps that were in use then.
- Land-O-Matic: Cessna introduced sprung-steel tricycle landing gear to replace the conventional bicycle gear to imply that these aircraft were much easier to take-off and land.
- Nav-O-Matic: This was coined as the name for the Cessna autopilot system which implied the system was simple and automated, requiring little to no human control.
- Stabila-Tip: This provided an advantage of reducing the free-surface effect of fuel affecting the balance of aircraft in rolling maneuvers.
How Safe Are the Cessna Models?
Let’s consider about four of the long list of the Cessna models and do detailed findings on why these Cessna models are considered safe.
Cessna 150/152
The C-150/152, a lightweight and agile aircraft, earned its place as one of the world’s popular training aircraft owing to its reliability, simplicity, and handling qualities. Its endorsed limited aerobatics makes it useful in spin training. Consequently, they are used almost entirely for personal and instructional flights rather than for commercial purposes.
More than 12,000 C-150/152 still remain in operation, although the model has been out of production for more than 30 years. The number of accidents in these aircraft has crashed twice as fast as total flight operation in all piston singles for over twenty years.
Let’s take a look at the result of a safety study conducted by the Air Safety Institute:
- 67% of the accident records involving Cessna 150s occurred on personal flights. Also, the same 67% of these accident records involving Cessna 152s occurred during flight instruction.
- When compared with other similar fleets on personal flights, C-150s and C-152s experienced lesser mechanical failures and inexplicable engine stoppages but were more prone to fuel starvation.
- Low-altitude maneuvering, loss of control during takeoff, and pilot impairment were leading causes of fatal accidents in the Cessnas. While in the comparable fleets, fatal accidents were due to harsh weather and losses of engine power.
- Errors in aircraft configuration, particularly flap settings and the appropriate use of carburetor heat are the main weaknesses of the Cessna 150&152.
Accidents
Generally, the accident records involving the C-150 & 152 compare favorably to those of other similarly light aircraft.
However, like all planes, certain aspects of operation require keen attention and caution:
- Scrutiny must be paid to weight and balance, the use of carburetor heat, flap positions during take-off, airspeed control during take-off, landings, and go-around.
- Practice slow flights at a safe altitude and get to know the characteristic behavior of the airplane in these regimes.
- Rehearse and practice stall recognition and recovery with an instructor accustomed to the model.
- And take time to put in the practice necessary to refine crosswind control and improve the precision of take-offs and landings.
Cessna 172
As far back as the early 1960s, Cessna 172 was the unrivaled king of light aircraft. It was a modest, fuel-economical, safe, and easy-to-fly plane that could fill a variety of roles. Sixty years later, it has earned for itself the world’s most loved aircraft with more than 43,000 units.
Today, the Cessna 172 (also known as the Skyhawk) essentially looks much the same as it did when it was first built in the late 1950s with only as many improvements in the reliable avionics equipped with new safety utilities like traffic and TAWS. The fact that Cessna 172 is simple and easy to use makes it stand out amongst other light aircraft. The Cessna 172 was based on an earlier Cessna 170 design.
The plane was purposefully built beyond minimum requirements and designed to be easy to fly and to survive emergency and hard landings. The C-172 with its wings sitting high above the cockpit provides student pilots a better view of the ground and makes it easier to land.
Additionally, the C-172 is used to teach how trim works, teach crosswind landings, and ground reference maneuvers. As a result of these strengths, C-172s have become the foremost in flight schools. The Insider Monkey after conducting a global survey of flight schools adjudged Cessna 172 the easiest and safest airplane to learn to fly in.
The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is so safe to fly because of the following:
- Slow landing speed owing to its generous and well-equipped flaps
- Predictable and stable flying manner
- Sturdy and solid construction
- Far better restraint systems
- Better training standards than ever
Crashes
In a study conducted more than 20 years ago, Cessna 172 came out well with a fatality rate of 0.56 per 100,000 flying hours (the best in general aviation). Most of the crashes that involved the Cessna 172 were more of the pilot’s error than from mechanical error.
In a two-year period, only one crash was due to mechanical failure owing to engine failure as a result of a faulty valve. No crash was related to fuel exhaustion.
However, C-172 has shown weakness in the go-around flight phase. The big flaps – 40 degrees on older models and 30 degrees on newer models – make “a go-around” a difficult maneuver especially if started late. Stall/spin problems also accounted for about 20% of the reported crashes.
Notable Crashes
- Aaliyah, the famous entertainer-celebrity, crashed in a C-172 in 2001 due to excess weight on the plane and the pilot was under the influence.
- A Cessna aircraft crashed earlier in 1972, Nick Begich an Alaska US congressman, and others aboard were presumed dead. The plane disappeared and bodies were never recovered.
- In January 2002, a high school student crashed a Cessna aircraft into the Bank of America Tower, killing himself only.
To tackle some of the weaknesses of the C-172, the following additional safety features were installed on the new C-172 Skyhawk:
- Ballistic Recovery System in case of unrecoverable loss of control by the pilots.
- Inflatable air-bags were fused into the seat belts.
- Additional training e.g. “dunker driving” in the event of a ditch or when the aircraft is submerged into water.
The C-172 Controversy
A lot of experts criticized the use of sheet metal construction on the C-172 airframes contrary to the conventional use of the fabric-covered welded steel construction (“tube-and-rag” design). They were concerned about the safety of the aircraft because of metal’s vulnerability to rust and corrosion.
Interestingly, the metal frames proved rather durable and easier to maintain as it could easily be repaired and repainted.
Cessna Caravan
As the C-172 is regarded as small, so is the Cessna Caravan referred to as large. The Cessna Caravan is admired for its resilient versatility and flexibility. With its powerful non-pressurized PT6 turboprop single engine, it delivers the combination of high performance, versed utility, and low operational cost.
Cessna produced several models under the Caravan series like the 208B Caravan, 208 Caravan 675, 208A Cargomaster, Caravan amphibian (with retractable gears for water landings).
The following are the features of the Cessna Caravan that make it safe to fly for an experienced and competent pilot:
- The durable aluminum of the airframe makes it easy to maintain and repair. Its airframe actually has no life limits.
- The Caravan has a very large degree ramp vision that provides ample visibility for the pilot.
- The landing gear is structurally reinforced along the lower fuselage to provide extra support and to resist heavy abuse from unfriendly airways.
- It has flaps and ailerons. The flaps make three-quarters of the wing length and are effective when extended. While ailerons are shorter and less effective, spoilers could be added to improve the roll effectiveness.
- The flight guidance panel in the GFC 700 Caravan makes it extremely intuitive thereby enhancing safety.
- The switch from pneumatic boots to TKS “weeping wing” system for anti-ice protection provides the Caravan with attendant protection. The TKS system protects the airframe components downstream including windshield and cargo pod from ice adhering to the surface by seeping fluid rearward in sync with the airflow.
- The G1000 caravan includes complimentary safety features like Garmin GFF 700 autopilot and WAAS system. Likewise, the Garmin GWX 68 Airborne color weather radar gives pilots a detailed picture of flight conditions.
- The large wings on the Caravan have their own benefits. They aid the Grand Caravan in offering great visibility and stability. They also help to block adverse sunrays and provide weather protection.
- The Grand Caravan is also designed to grant easy access to pilot, passenger and cargo doors in the case of any emergency. The aircraft is excellent on land, air, and sea regardless of the prevailing weather conditions.
A Caravan amphibious landing on water
Accidents
A study conducted by the Air Safety Institute as of December 31, 2017 revealed that there are 216 Caravan hull losses from both human and mechanical errors. There were 206 accidents with 427 fatalities, that is, an average of 2 fatalities for every hull loss, with about 29.7% of the occupants surviving fatal accidents; and 6 hijackings leading to 1 death.
Are Old Cessna Models Safe?
In general, plane age does not really matter as long as it passes the annual inspection test. A new stringent policy from the aviation authorities says that all aircraft must pass a safety inspection test every 100 hours of flying time. If a plane passes this test, regardless of its age, it is deemed fit and safe to fly.
For example, research shows that almost half of the recent Cessna 172 crashes were in models built under the new Part 23 certificate since Cessna 172 resumed production in 1976.
Conclusion
Cessnas have been around for almost hundred years now primarily because of its continued penchant for safety and versatility. As long as the aircraft is regularly maintained and the pilot is competent enough to fly the plane, you can go to sleep in any Cessna. Think about it, “If Cessnas are not safe, why would they still be marketable for almost a century now?“
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