Is flying a safe way to travel?
Is flying a safe way to travel?
Updated: 2010-09-02 18:04
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Major safety devices in an airplane
Realizing that a poor safety record in the aviation industry is a threat to corporate survival, two major manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, both have placed huge emphasis on the use of aviation safety equipment. Some major safety devices now required in commercial aircraft involve:
Advanced avionics - Computerized auto-recovery and alert systems.
Landing gear - that can be lowered even after loss of power and hydraulics.
Evacuation slides - aid rapid passenger exit from an aircraft in an emergency situation.
Turbine engines - durability and failure containment improvements.
Turbine engines - durability and failure containment improvements.
Is flying the safest way to travel?
When compared against all other modes of transport on a fatality per mile basis air transport is the safest - six times safer than travelling by car and twice as safe as rail.
When measured on a passenger-distance calculation, air travel is the safest form of transportation available: these figures are the ones mentioned by the air industry when quoting statistics on air safety.
However, when measured by fatalities per person transported, buses are the safest form of transportation and the number of air travel fatalities per person are surpassed only by bicycles and motorcycles. This statistic is the one used by the insurance industry when calculating insurance rates for air travel.
For every billion kilometers traveled, trains have a fatality rate 12 times larger than air travel, while automobiles have a fatality rate 62 times larger. On the other hand, for every billion journeys, buses are the safest form of transportation.
By the last measure air transportation is three times more dangerous than car transportation and almost 30 times more dangerous than bus.
However, when measured by fatalities per person transported, buses are the safest form of transportation and the number of air travel fatalities per person are surpassed only by bicycles and motorcycles. This statistic is the one used by the insurance industry when calculating insurance rates for air travel.
For every billion kilometers traveled, trains have a fatality rate 12 times larger than air travel, while automobiles have a fatality rate 62 times larger. On the other hand, for every billion journeys, buses are the safest form of transportation.
By the last measure air transportation is three times more dangerous than car transportation and almost 30 times more dangerous than bus.
Where is the safest place to sit on an airplane?
A 2007 study by Popular Mechanics found that passengers sitting at the back of a plane are 40% more likely to survive a crash than those sitting in the front, although this article also quotes Boeing, the FAA and a website on aircraft safety, all claiming that there is no safest seat.
The article studied 20 crashes, not taking in account the developments in safety after those accidents. However, a flight data recorder is usually mounted in the aircraft's empennage (tail section), where it is more likely to survive a severe crash.
Over 95% of people in US plane crashes between 1983 and 2000 survived.
