How We Measured Safety

The primary metric is fatal accident percentage — when an accident occurs in this aircraft type, how often does someone die? A low fatal percentage means the aircraft is more survivable when things go wrong. This matters more than raw accident count because a popular type with a large fleet will naturally have more accidents.

We only ranked types with 15 or more accidents to ensure statistical significance. Types with fewer accidents can have wildly misleading percentages — one fatal accident out of three total shows 33% fatal, but that tells you almost nothing.

A key factor in survivability is stall speed. Slow aircraft hit the ground with less energy. Energy scales with the square of velocity — a 40 mph impact has roughly 1/25th the energy of a 200 mph impact. This is why STOL aircraft dominate the “safest” list and fast cross-country machines dominate the “most dangerous.”

The Safest: Under 15% Fatal Rate

When these aircraft have accidents, the pilot almost always walks away. Low stall speeds, forgiving handling, and STOL capability mean forced landings are survivable.

Why Slow Planes Are Safer

The top 10 safest experimental aircraft are almost all slow, high-wing STOL designs. The Zenith CH 750 tops the list at just 3.6% fatal — meaning 96.4% of pilots who have an accident in a CH 750 survive. The Just Aircraft SuperSTOL, Pietenpol Air Camper, and Kitfox all follow the same pattern: slow approach speeds, short landing distances, and docile handling.

When your engine quits at 2,000 feet, you need somewhere to land. A Kitfox can put down in a 200-foot clearing at 35 knots. A Lancair IV needs 2,000+ feet and arrives at 80+ knots. Same emergency, vastly different outcomes.

Moderate Risk: 15-30% Fatal Rate

These types include many popular all-metal kit aircraft. Higher cruise speeds increase impact energy, but well-designed airframes and larger fleets provide more data confidence.

Highest Risk: Over 30% Fatal Rate

These aircraft have fatal rates well above the fleet average. High cruise speeds, composite construction, and IMC capability temptation are common factors. When these aircraft crash, the pilot dies more often than not in several cases.

The Lancair Problem

The Lancair family dominates the dangerous list — the Wheeler Express (70% fatal), Lancair Legacy (65.4%), and Lancair IV/IV-P (45.5%) are the three deadliest experimental aircraft by fatal percentage. These are fast, composite, retractable-gear aircraft that cruise at 200+ knots. When something goes wrong at those speeds, the outcome is almost always fatal.

The temptation of IFR capability also plays a role. Lancair pilots are more likely to fly in marginal weather because the aircraft is capable of it — but VFR-into-IMC remains the deadliest single mistake in our dataset at 84.9% fatal.

Are Kit Planes Safe? The Bottom Line

It depends entirely on which kit plane and how you fly it. A Zenith CH 750 flown conservatively by a current pilot is one of the safest ways to fly. A Lancair IV pushed into weather by an overconfident pilot is one of the most dangerous.

The data shows that the aircraft you choose matters, but the decisions you make matter more. The most common fatal accident causes — stall/spin (49% fatal), VFR into IMC (85% fatal), and showing off at low altitude (74% fatal) — are all pilot choices, not aircraft failures.

If you are considering building or buying an experimental aircraft, compare types side-by-side, estimate your personal risk, and explore detailed safety profiles for every type in our database.

Important Caveats

• Fatal percentage measures survivability, not how often accidents happen. A type can have a low fatal rate but a high accident rate (or vice versa).
• Types with fewer than 20 accidents have unreliable statistics. A single accident can swing the percentage dramatically.
• Your personal risk depends on training, currency, maintenance, and decision-making — not just aircraft type.
• This data should not be the sole basis for any aircraft purchase or build decision. Consult experienced builders and instructors.