Factorial Structure of Impact and Damage Variables in Lightplane Accidents1

A. conceptual framework, through which accident variables are defined and certain cause-and-effect relationships are established, is confirmed through application of the technique of factor analysis to a set of lightplane accident data. Relationships between aircraft structural damage and injury to the occupant were seen to increase as a function of proximity. Individual measures of the consequences of impact were found to inter correlate higher than the implied cause-effect relations from impact to damage.