Unicom: 05/04

Cirrus vs. Cessna
I thought your article “Has Cirrus Delivered?” [Safety Review, March] was particularly interesting because it so happens that I owned a Cessna 182S and a Cirrus 20. When I checked the statistics and fleet size of the two airplanes, I discovered to my amazement that the 182S had a higher accident rate than Cirrus.

I am somewhat confused by the statistics in the chart that indicate that the 182S and 182T have suffered seven fatal accidents. When I checked the NTSB database, 10 fatal accidents are recorded, eight for the 182S [mine included] and two to the 182T. The conclusion that I reached that for the period of 1999 to 2002, was that Cessna had more accide...