U.S. general aviation accident rates decreased in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the recently released 33rd edition of the AOPA Air Safety Institute Accident Report, which was retitled the Richard G. McSpadden Report. The association said the document was renamed in “honor and memory of our beloved friend and colleague” who, along with another pilot, lost his life in an airplane accident on October 1 in Lake Placid, New York.

The report notes an increase in accidents from 1,050 in 2020 to 1,124 in 2021, the most recent year complete and final statistics are available. However, four million additional flight hours—compared to the previous year—tempered the higher accident total. “Overall accident rates decreased from 4.69 to per 100,000 flight hours to 4.28 and the fatal accident rate decreased from 0.84 to 0.77 from 2020 to 2021, respectively.” Non-commercial airplane accident rates fell slightly, with the fatal accident rate declining to 0.86 and the accident rate decreasing to 4.87.

“An area where we see some discouragement is the non-commercial helicopter accident rate, which rose following two years of decline,” said Robert Geske, AOPA Air Safety Institute manager of aviation safety analysis. “We are also disappointed to see the lethality rate for weather accidents remain steady at an average of eight per year despite continual efforts to address this area.”