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# Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15B) Addendum: Angle of Attack Indicators April 2015 

The FAA along with the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (GAJSC) is promoting Angle of Attack (AOA) indicators as one of the many safety initiatives aimed at reducing the General Aviation accident rate. AOA indicators will specifically target Loss of Control (LOC) accidents. Loss of control is the number one root cause of fatalities in both General Aviation (GA) and Commercial Aviation. More than 25% of General Aviation fatal accidents occur during the maneuvering phase of flight. Of those accidents-half involve stall/spin scenarios. 

Technology such as AOA indicators can have a tremendous impact on reversing this trend and are increasingly affordable for GA airplanes. 

The purpose of an AOA indicator is to give the pilot better situational awareness pertaining to the aerodynamic health of the airfoil. This can also be referred as stall margin awareness. More simply explained, it is the margin that exists between the current AOA that the airfoil will stall (critical AOA). 

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