Accident Lessons for Stall Upset Recovery Training

In-flight upsets/loss of control is now a leading cause of in-flight commercial aviation accidents. A major category of in-flight upsets is stall upsets with uncontaminated wings and with icing. The 2009 accident of Colgan Airlines flight 3407 is a recent example of a stall upset. A study of in-flight upset accidents and incidents involving stalls reveals a string of opportunities to identify the problem and recover the aircraft, which flight crews have missed. These suggest areas where training can be concentrated so that pilots do not miss these opportunities to break the chain of events that lead to these accidents.