This is a literal survival guide for new pilots identified as the "the killing zone," the 40-250 flight hours during which unseasoned aviators are likely to commit lethal mistakes. It presents the statistics of how many pilots will die in the zone within a year; calls attention to the eight top pilot killers (such as "VFR into IFR," "Takeoff and Climb"); and maps strategies for avoiding, diverting, correcting, and managing the dangers. Craig includes a Pilot Personality Self-Assessment Exercise that identifies pilot "types" and how each type can best react to survive the killing zone.

You can fly through the zone. Or you can die in it. Most pilots earn their private certificate with 40 to 70 flight hours. Then they leave their instructors behind and enter the killing zone. Grimly embracing the period from 50 to 350 flight hours--a vital time for new pilots to build practical and decision-making skills--this deadly zone lays in wait for those who err, killing more pilots than all other periods put together. You don't have to be one of them.

Aviation safety specialist Paul Craig--discoverer of the killing zone--shows you the fatal errors that inexperienced pilots make time after time and gives you tactics to avoid them. Based on the first in-depth, scientific study of pilot behavior and general aviation flying accidents in more than 20 years, The Killing Zone:

• Identifies the time frame in which you are most likely to die
• Alerts you to the 12 mistakes most likely to kill you
• Outlines preventive strategies for flying through the zone alive
• Provides guidelines for avoiding, evading, diverting, correcting, and managing dangers
• Includes a "Pilot Personality Self-Assessment Exercise" for an individualized survival strategy

Table of contents:

• The Killing Zone
• The Dangers
• Continued VFR into IFR
• Maneuvering Flight
• Takeoff and Climb
• Approach and Landing
• Midair Collision
• Fuel Management
• Pilot Health, Alcohol and Drugs
• Night Flying
• Ice
• The Effects of Advanced Flight Training
• Instrument Flight & CFIT
• Advanced Aircraft Accidents
• Pilot Personality
• Airmanship
• Accidents & the Media
• Appendix: Accident Statistics
• Index