How Safe Is It To Fly?
It is a question that has been asked a thousand times before, (and more), since the Wright brothers first took to the air. Such questions have only increased in number since the terrorist attacks in the US nearly a decade ago. When asking, “How safe is it to fly?”, the simple answer is, “Extremely.”
Searching on the Internet for aviation statistics, you will find many pointing to how flying is the safest form of transport. It is estimated, that you have a one on eleven millions chance of being involved in an aircraft accident. The odds of you being severely injured or, god forbid killed, are slimmer still. Conversely, your odds of being killed on the road are just one in five thousand.
The biggest threat concerning perception of safety probably derives from the media coverage of events. Whilst the crash landing of flight 1549 in early 2009 was a story to be covered, whether it was worthy of weeks worth of stories is questionable.
Far bigger than any problems airlines experience with flying, when answering questions of, “How safe is it to fly”, is coping with how people with a fear of flying react. We should perhaps take more time to look at how infrequent air disasters are, and how in depth the media’s coverage is of them. As the twenty-four hour news culture continues, it can be easy to lose sight of just how rare an event is.
But that isn’t the case with air disasters. It is always about apportioning blame and covering the negatives of the disaster. That you a safer in the air than on the ground at most times of your life, seem to be put to one side as soon as a fatal accident occurs. And then the worries for many start all over again.
There are risks associated with all things. When asking “How safe is it to fly?”, consider how many airplanes are in accidents, compared to how many cars are in accidents. It is far fewer.
