AoC number

119

Primary domain

OP

Secondary domain

T

Description

In the past decade, the number of Light Sport Aircraft (LSA), hang-gliders, paragliders and their motorized versions has increased significantly.

Potential hazard

  1. Inadvertent flight into unapproved airspace
  2. Inadvertent flight into IFR conditions
  3. Malfunction or failure of consumer-level avionics utilized in such vehicles
  4. Loss of control of such aircraft due to inadequate training in unusual attitude recovery

These light sport aircraft are restricted from certain airspace and may be piloted by people lacking basic knowledge of the airspace structure.

Corroborating sources and comments

http://www.eaa.org/bitsandpieces/articles/0810_sa.pdf
CAAs statistics displaying number of aircrafts per category show up increasing number of very light planes.

This link shows the expected increase across the globe , split by continent
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2011/04/12/355346/european-light-sport-aircraft-market-awaits-european.html

Personal communications from John Colomy, FAA Small Airplane Directorate, 8/18/2011:

Year Cumulative U.S. Fleet Size
2004 0
2005 250
2006 500
2007 1000
2008 1500
2009 1750
2010 1900
2011* 2000

*through June

Last update

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