Until 1949, private pilot applicants were required to demonstrate spins, so spin training was a routine part of the private pilot curriculum. In June of that year, the CAA (predecessor of today's FAA) removed the requirement for spin training for private pilots, substituting increased training in stall recognition and recovery, since spins cannot occur without a stall. (A requirement for instructional proficiency in spins remains today only for flight instructor candidates).

Officials at the time also reasoned that if there was no spin requirement for private pilots, then aircraft manufacturers would also be encouraged to produce aircraft with greater spin-resistant characteristics.

Removal of a spin requirement for private pilots created much dissent on the part of instructors and other aviation professionals, who forecast an immediate and dramatic rise in the number of spin accidents. It didn't happen. In fact, since elimination of the spin requirement for private pilots, the incidence of stall/spin accidents has actually decreased substantially.

Following the U.S. lead, Canada and the United Kingdom dropped spin demonstrations for non-CFI check rides for the same reasons.

Although the total number of stall/spin accidents has dropped dramatically since 1949, those that do still occur tend to occur at fairly low altitudes. In fact, a 2001 ASF study on 465 fatal stall/spin accidents that occurred from 1991 through 2000 showed that at least 80 percent (and probably more) of the accidents started from an altitude of less 1000 feet agl, the usual traffic pattern altitude.

The study found that only 7.1 percent of the aircraft involved in the stall/spin accidents definitely started the stall/spin from an altitude of greater than 1,000 feet agl. Just over 13 percent of the aircraft were reported at an "unknown" altitude at the beginning of the accident, and so were given the benefit of the doubt by ASF.

Another study done earlier by the FAA Small Aircraft Directorate, which included some 1,700 stall/spin accidents dating from 1973, concluded that 93 percent of such accidents started at or below pattern altitude (pattern altitude at many airports in the 1970's was often 800 feet agl, adding emphasis to the study findings).


The altitude required for recovery from stalls is minimal compared to that required for recovery from spins, even when experienced aerobatic test pilots are on board and ready to recover from the spin.

Pilot Operating Handbooks for various typical GA aircraft estimate average altitude loss during stalls, assuming proper recovery technique, as between 100 and 350 feet.