Is it safe to fly?
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M$21 Answers
1. Road Travel is more prone to terrorist attacks as compared to Air Travel, because there is no or almost negligible security checking when boarding a bus or railways as compared to when someone boards an aeroplane where he/she is subjected to repeated security checks, scans etc. There is a lack of surveillance and scanning systems in railway stations in most countries (particularly developing countries) whereas it is far better in airports. Some countries are now in the process of upgrading their railway stations security.
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/050109-Cantonment-City-Railway-Station-Random-security-check-Easy-targets-Poor-security-slideshow.htm
http://www.china.org.cn/government/focus_news/2008-07/22/content_16049824.htm
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/archive/index.php/t-275293.html
2. There is more rush in railway stations than in airports.
3. There have been more instances of terrorists using road-vehicles for suicide bombing attempts than they have used aeroplanes.
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Use%20of%20ambulances%20and%20medical%20vehicles%20by%20Palestin
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023443.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_bomb
http://www.themetalith.com/aboutvehiclebombs.html
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/41-killed-in-afghan-blast-caused-by-vehicle/507378/
http://harpers.org/subjects/VehicleBombs
4. Statistics reveal that air travel is far safer than road travel, when speaking of accidents.
http://www.meretrix.com/~harry/flying/notes/safetyvsdriving.html
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99845.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-is-Flying-Safer-Then-Driving?&id=1558693
http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/Jan20_03/18.shtml
5. Finally, it is obvious that since there are far more vehicles on road than aeroplanes in air, they will be targeted more by the terrorists and will meet more accidents. This is just a game of numbers.
So, flying is still safer than road travel. Thanks
http://www.meretrix.com/~harry/flying/notes/safetyvsdriving.html
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99845.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-is-Flying-Safer-Then-Driving?&id=1558693
http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/Jan20_03/18.shtml
http://www.meretrix.com/~harry/flying/notes/safetyvsdriving.html
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99845.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-is-Flying-Safer-Then-Driving?&id=1558693
http://www.ur.umich.edu/0203/Jan20_03/18.shtml
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Use%20of%20ambulances...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023443.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_bomb
http://www.themetalith.com/aboutvehiclebombs.html
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/41-killed-in-afghan-blast-caused-by-vehic...
http://harpers.org/subjects/VehicleBombs
http://www.mid-day.com/news/2009/jan/050109-Cantonment-City-Railway-Station...
http://www.china.org.cn/government/focus_news/2008-07/22/content_16049824.h...
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/archive/index.php/t-275293.html
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M$
I would imagine those would would wish harm to American citizens would be on to other plans of destruction and terror because the American flying public has been warned about these terror attack possibilities and the post 9/11 improved safety measures at airports and airlines in general have made this modus operandi a bit obsolete.
I think it is as safe to fly today as it was yesterday and the day before.
I am no more scared to fly than I am to drive on the highway at rush hour on the weekend.
But like I said above about terrorism.. the guerrilla nature of it makes it impossible to quantify or use as a big factor in the overall measurement of air safety. I would fly tomorrow if I had anywhere to go and without any more stress or worry of or about terrorism than I had yesterday or the day before.
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M$From the NATCA site (http://www.natca.org/mediacenter/bythenumbers.msp#1 ) there are on average 28,537 flights in the US any given day. That's about 10.4 million flights a year. In the past year there have been zero successful terror attacks against flights in the US or to/from the US. Going back to 9/11, there have been (to the best of my recollection) the 4 successful attacks in 2001. That's 4 out of over 80 million flights, and since those 4 flights security has been significantly upgraded.
In an article from last March (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/631793/aviation_safety_what_are_the_odds.html ) I discussed the safety of flying as opposed to other risks. In that article I stated the risk of dying in a plane crash (not terrorism-related) was about 1 in a million over all airlines and about 1 in 10 million for the major carriers.
From the 4 successful attacks out of over 80 million flights including 9/11, the risk of death as a result of a terror attack on a commercial flight, is less than 1 in 20 million. Perhaps significantly less. Thus, the risk of dying in a non-terror-related crash is more than twice as high as dying in a terror-related crash, and both those odds are much lower than dying in a car crash, whether riding in the car or even walking on the street.
- quote -
Fly the average number of hours and your odds of dying in a plane crash are more than 100 times lower than your odds of being run over by a vehicle, and more than 400 times lower than your odds of being killed riding in a vehicle. Even air warriors are 500% more likely to die in a motor vehicle and 25% more likely to be killed walking.
...
Based on NASA estimates, the odds of a civilization-ending asteroid hitting Earth within a human lifetime are about 1 in 12,500. That's over 5 times more likely than your lifetime odds of dying in a plane crash.
- end quote -
The bottom line is thus that you're much more likely to be killed by a major asteroid than by a terrorist attack on a plane you're in, and even more likely to be killed walking on the street, or riding in a car. Are you about to stop walking or driving? Are you about to move to some other planet where they've licked the civilization-killer asteroid problem? Hardly.
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M$
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M$
And now, the TSA is making it miserable to fly. I have so many stories of the TSA just be tyrannical for very flimsy reasons. All they do is bandaid the situation... For example... Why do we have to take off our shoes during screening? Because ONE person had a SUPPOSED "shoe bomb".
And this new incident... Now they'll bandaid it again. "No getting out of your seat an hour before landing." Because ONE person behaved very badly...
I'd like to see what would happen if they offered two flights. One through TSA checked/monitor protocols... and one with NO check (okay, maybe a metal detector). Like it was before 9-11 or LESS. I'd hop on the "less secure" plane ANY time.
Noone is monitoring the TSA. In my opinion, they are way too overreacting/overreaching.
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EXPERIENCE
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M$
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Actually you have a higher chance that you will die from a suicide attempt before you die from a plane crash 1 in 9380 people will die from intentional self-harm.
So no need to fall for all this fear-mongering that the media and government continually try to push.
For an interesting website having to do with odds visit http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm
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M$In the time of writing, there are 5,657 planes in the air, and there has been 29,609 arrivals in the last 24 hours. That's in the USA alone.*
The last crash was on 22nd of December, 2009, with no fatalities.** There has been approximately 120,000 successful flights since then.
Flying is the safest way of traveling.***
The reason for this is because pilots have thousands of hours training before they can become pilots.
Compared to the car, the average driver probably should be able to drive.
So it's much more safer to fly than to drive, that it's been said that the biggest fatalities of 9/11, were the once who chose to drive instead of fly in the months after 9/11****.
And while we are on the topic of terrorism, a sobering fact is that you are more likely to been a victim of terrorism if you travel by train than by plane. For example, both the the 2004 terrorist attack on Madrid and the 2005 terrorist attack on London, were on board trains, not planes.
And remember it was an "attempted terrorist attack", not a "terrorist attack".
* For numer's and maps of current flights: http://flightaware.com/
** For recent plane crash data: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/
*** Statistics for driving and flying safety: http://www.fearofflying.com/about/research.shtml#driving
**** Scared to Fly After 9/11? Don't Reach for the Car Keys http://www.anxietyandstress.com/flyingafterseptember112001.html
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M$
However, what about other measures of safety.
Is it safe to sit on a tarmac for 8 hours without being allowed food or use of a bathroom facility? We literally had to have a law passed saying that it is inhumane to make people wait more than two hours. And the airlines are balking at this saying it will create more delays. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-213
Very few people think about the air on the plane. Where does it come from? It's recycled on the plane and there are numberous reports of people being sick from the toxic air found in cabins of planes. This is only one example http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/07/03/bleed.air.contamination/
How about germy magazines that everyone has touched. People with cold and flu viruses take them out to read and then put them back.
Also, how sanitary and safe are the blankets and pillows that people use on the planes? How often are they cleaned?
Is your pet safe when traveling in the cargo hold? Small pets are allowed on some flights but bigger pets have to go in the cargo hold. Some pets have died from being in there.
Has your pilot been drinking today?
Are your air traffic controllers stressed out because there are so many planes and so few of them to monitor the air traffic?
Is your luggage safe from the numerous people that come in contact with it ? Locks are no longer permitted due to other safety reasons.
Is the person sitting in the exit seat really able to exercise the responsibility of that position? Or did they want to sit there for the extra leg room or because there was no where else to sit? This person is supposed to look out for the safety of others in the event of an emergency. How many exit seat passengers do you think really do that?
So, will the plane fall out of the sky? Probably not likely. However, there are a myriad of other safety problems associated with flying that have nothing to do with death but all to do with the safety of flying.
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In all seriousness though, if I needed to fly tomorrow, I would. Would I fly out of the country though? Nope. Yeah, I know.. there's little to no difference, but that's me.
Glad the only injuries were minor, but even that is too much.
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-quote-
"Thirty years ago, fatal accidents on commercial jetliners occurred approximately once in every 140 million miles flown. Today, it’s 1.4 billion miles flown for every fatal accident - a ten-fold safety improvement."
-end of quote-
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M$I have flown to India, China, South Africa, EU, Turkey and dozens of other places over the last 9 years and only had one incident where a NWA DC-10 had one engine fail while flying from Detroit to Philly. We turned back with no issues.
Passangers are so much more observant and willing to take action should something occur in-flight (example with the shoe-bomber and recent Nigerian attempt). Since 9-11, no one is going to sit back and watch someone try to blow up a plane!
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M$Have a great day!
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own opinion
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M$
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M$
The terrorists will find new ways to make the lives miserable. What we can do?
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M$Flight safety depends on airline. Odds of being in a fatal crash among top 25 airlines in flight safety are 1 in 8.5Million; odds of dying is 1 in 13.5 million; if you fly on bottom 25 in safety odds increase to 1 in 830,000 for being in a fatal crash, and 1in 1.13 million odds of dying.
This compares to 1 in 7,361 chance you are involved in a fatal car accident (if female driver) or and 1 in 2,536 if you are a male driver.
planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm
http://www.bookofodds.com/Accidents-Death/Transportation-Accidents/Articles...
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My sourse also pointed out that in air plane disasters, there are rarely survivors (not the case in car accidents...they are much, much less fatal~ you don't usually have anyone seriously hurt in a fender bender) and the death rate in an airplane crash is much higher than a fatal car accident, or other type of accident (hundreds vs a few).
My husband (who refuses to fly)
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With all due respect, your source needs to learn a bit of statistics.
The odds of dying in a plane crash flying with the major carriers are about 1 in 10,000,000. Your lifetime risk of dying in such a crash assuming a typical number of flights (i.e. a few per year) is more than 400 times lower than dying in a car crash assuming you drive around a typical number of miles (i.e. 12,000 per year).
As for survivors, in plane crashes occurring during takeoff or landing (the riskiest parts of the flight) on average about 30% of passengers survive.
As for the number of deaths in a car crash vs. a plane crash, those are taken into account in the above statistics, plus once you're one of the dead in either type of accident, the number of others who die with you, whether zero or hundreds, probably doesn't make much difference to you.
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