SAFA Skysailor Magazine

32 SKY SAILOR May | June 2023 Greetings fellow pilots. A long, long time ago, in a high school not that far away from where I am currently sitting, I had the good fortune to be taught Mathematics and Advanced Mathematics by a gem of a teacher – Dr Proctor. This rather elderly gentleman hailed from England, and rumour had it he had worked at the famed code-cracking establishment, Bletchley Park during WW2. Another rumour I later heard was that he was actually one of those brave souls who threw themselves out of an aircraft in plain clothes to operate in intelligence and espionage in occupied Europe. This rumour was, I believe, confirmed after his death. Certainly, he ran us through the wringer on matrices and matrix arithmetic – objects and operations that are or were used extensively in the field of encryption. Why am I telling you all this? Well, when he opened the field of statistics to us, the good Dr Proctor uttered this kernel of truth: “Gentlemen, you must always remember, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Hence, the title of this issue’s missive. Statistics can be used (manipulated) to make a case for anything to anyone by quite unscrupulous people (I’ll leave you to suppose who these might be), but not always. Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics by Iain Clarke – SAFA Safety Management Officer For the first two years in my role of SMO, I prepared quite weighty reports delving into the AIRS data from previous years for presen- tation at the AGM. The report was not required for the past two AGMs, but I have extracted the data anyway, and I reckon it’s worth having a bit of a look at some of the numbers. Firstly, a few words about the data. Remem- ber that AIRS reports are made voluntarily and not all accidents or incidents that may have occurred are captured. Ideally, we would hope that everyone feels able to lodge a report without fear of recrimination. Punishment is not the role of AIRS. Secondly, the data is only as good as the information provided, or that we can draw upon from our member database. Hours flown by pilots is a case in point. Not everyone logs their flights in our online logbook system and therefore the only data point we have is the hours declared at membership renewal time. Finally, bear in mind that the data presented here is based on the financial year (FY), that is, 01/07 to 30/06. All good? Okay, strap yourselves in… Pilot qualification distribution When you look at this table, which details the distribution of pilot qualifications held within our member-base, remember members may hold qualifications in more than one discipline (i.e., HG, PG, PPG or WM).