Risk Perception Among General Aviation Pilots

Two measures of pilot risk perception are described. One measure assessed pilots’ perception of the level of risk experienced by other, fictional, pilots, and the second measure assessed the pilots’ perceptions of the level of risk they would experience if they were personally involved in a set of scenarios. Analyses are reported for factor scores derived from the 2 measures. Analysis of variance demonstrated significant differences in the risk ratings for the 4 pilot certificate groups, with the more advanced certificate holders (i.e., commercial and airline transport) reporting lower levels of perceived risk. Construct validity was assessed using only private pilots (N = 369). Correlations between the factor scores and measures related to the constructs generally supported the construct validity of the risk perception measures. Inaccurate risk perception, measured as the discrepancy between the perceived risks of flying and driving, was found to be a better indicator of involvement in hazardous aviation events than any of the factor scores. It is suggested that the risk perception measures be used by other investigators to assess the contributions of these constructs to accident involvement in comparison to the contribution of other constructs.