Here are 10 statistically proven methods of reducing your chances of an accident.

1) Get a weather briefing

Receiving a weather briefing, whether it's digitally or over the phone, is critical to the overall safety of your flight. It allows you pinpoint areas of adverse weather, and it will let you know about NOTAMs or TFRs that may also affect your route of flight.

2) Perform a thorough preflight

While it might seem like common sense, performing a thorough preflight is essential to making sure that your aircraft is airworthy and ready to fly. By taking your time with the preflight, it mitigates the risk of possibly missing something critical such as a hydraulic fluid leak or a dent in the body of the aircraft.

3) Recognize hazardous attitudes

We all know the 5 hazardous attitudes that pilots are susceptible to: anti-authority, resignation, macho, impulsivity, and invulnerability. Recognizing these attitudes will help reduce the risk of you doing something that could adversely affect the safety of the flight.

4) Use your resources

When you are flying, don't forget to use the resources that are available to you such as Air Traffic Control, your avionics, and especially, utilizing checklists.

5) Establish personal minimums

Not every pilot is comfortable flying in all types of weather phenomena. Knowing where to "draw the line" is a good practice that you should utilize.

6) Practice makes perfect

It's true! If you want to become the best pilot you can be, even if you already have your license, don't be afraid to ask a flight instructor to go up with you and practice some crosswind landings or shoot an instrument approach down to minimums. Exposing yourself to challenging flying will make you a safer pilot by helping you to prepare for the unexpected.

7) File a flight plan

Remembering to always file a flight plan when you are going on a cross-country. It provides a greater level of safety and protection, because Flight Service Stations know where you are going, the route that you are taking to get there, and how long it will take you. This will help them track your exact location in the event you have an emergency and have to make an off field landing.

8) Don't be susceptible to external pressures

External pressures such as angry passengers, or coming down with "get-there-itis" are pressures that could negatively affect the decisions you're making. Take a moment to sort out your options. If you aren't comfortable with the situation, whether its aircraft maintenance issues, bad weather, etc., simply cancel the flight. It's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground.

9) IMSAFE

You might roll your eyes at this one, but it can have a huge impact on your performance. Illness, Medication, Stress, Alcohol, Fatigue, and Emotion - these are the things you should run through before every flight to make sure you are mentally and physically ready to fly.

10) Never stop learning

Being a competent and knowledgeable pilot is the key in being a safe pilot. Whether it's understanding airspace better, or being more comfortable reading and interpreting weather, the more you know, the better you'l be in the long run.