Learn-Do-Fly Training Standard: Improving Pilot Safety

The Learn-Do-Fly Training Standard is presented as an industry response to persistent gaps in pilot training, targeting both early attrition and in-flight loss of control accidents. The article says general aviation training fails “at both ends” of the pipeline: many students leave before earning a private pilot certificate, with one estimate putting dropout rates around 80%. It also notes that fatal inflight loss of control accidents continue to dominate fatal accident categories despite decades of warnings and regulatory updates. Community Aviation and master instructor Rich Stowell propose the standard as a way to improve retention and push training beyond rote procedures toward correlation and real-world problem solving. The standard is described as open and free to access, with no licensing requirements for adoption by pilots, instructors, or training providers. Community Aviation also offers voluntary certification pathways for organizations whose programs are independently verified to meet the full requirements. The proposed goal is to reduce student attrition and inflight loss of control accidents, using an evidence-backed framework.