Utah plane crashes this year more deadly than '07

Some pilots, who didn't want their names used, have told the Deseret News they believe density altitude may be playing a key role in many of this year's crashes.

Density altitude is a calculation of the air density or pressure at a given location when factors such as temperature and humidity are included. The hotter the conditions, the higher the density altitude, meaning aircraft should strive to be lighter than usual in terms of cargo, passengers and fuel. But during cooler weather, they can afford to carry a little extra weight.

A preliminary report from the NTSB regarding July's helicopter crash in Price computed the density altitude at the time of the crash at 9,330 feet

Temperatures in Moab on Aug. 22 were in the high 90s to near 100 degrees. Though the NTSB would not comment or speculate on possible causes of the crash, investigators say one of the many areas they will look at is the temperature in Moab at the time of takeoff and the weight of the plane, including the number of passengers, equipment and fuel.

Still, 30 crashes through the first eight months of the year is a big increase from previous years.

During that same time period in 2006, Utah had 18 accidents resulting in seven deaths. In 2005, 16 crashes resulted in five people killed. In 2004, there were 24 accidents resulting in three deaths during the first eight months of the year.

In 2003, however, there were 34 crashes during the first eight months of the year, resulting in 18 deaths, according to the NTSB.

In fact, general aviation accidents were down across the United States this year through the end of July. There were 971 general aviation accidents across the country during the first seven months of 2007 resulting in 279 deaths, compared to 862 accidents this year resulting in 274 deaths.

In July alone, the NTSB investigated 214 general aviation accidents in the United States resulting in 51 deaths, compared to 125 during July of this year. Nationally, 48 people were killed in general aviation accidents in July in 2008, according to the NTSB.

Although any loss of life is tragic, Fergus said the crash numbers are small compared to the number of successful flights that happen every day across the nation.

In 2007, there was a little over one fatality per 100,000 flight hours, according to the NTSB.

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E-mail: preavy@desnews.com