Everybody tells you that flying is statistically safer than almost any other mode of transport. But is this true? YES IT IS! As proof, here are a few statistics and charts;
- A US National Safety Council study showed flying to be 22 times safer than travelling by car
- 21,000 people (on average) die on the road in the US in a 6-month period. This is approximately the same amount of all commercial air travel fatalities WORLDWIDE in 40 years
- More than 3million people fly EVERY DAY.
- A Boeing aircraft takes off or lands every 2 seconds somewhere in the world – all day, every day!
Below is a chart showing a direct comparison between different modes of transport in the US. As you can see, more people died while riding a bike than on an airliner. These statistics are from 2000;
US Transportation Fatalities 2000 – Source: NTSB
This next chart shows a comparison betweeen the number of airplane accidents and the actual number of departures. You can see how safety has dramatically improved since the early days. This graphic comes from the Boeing Website.
Why Am I Still Nervous?
Many of you will look at these facts, but still believe flying to be unsafe. Despite me telling you that 1 plane in 5 million crashes, the only number you can focus on is the 1.
Try to start analysing risk in everything you do. There is a risk when you cross the road, walk up the stairs, drive a car, or any other activity. Why does flying seem like more of a risk than any of these things?
The answer is usually related to the feeling of having no control. The fear of flying is an emotional response, and it’s this that must be changed.
An expert in dealing with changing your emotional response is Tom Bunn and his SOAR Fear of Flying Program.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I read where if you lose the engines you can glide 30 minutes however what happens when you are over the Atlantic or Pacific?
Yes, 30 minutes is the approx time an aircraft at cruising altitude can ‘glide’ before landing. But, on transatlantic routes an aircraft is often more than 30 mins away from an airport.
Firstly, it is important to concentrate on how unlikely it is for an aircraft to lose ALL engines. Jet engines are incredibly reliable, and rarely fail. So, for more than one engine to do so is almost impossible!
There are stringent rules regarding which planes are permitted to cross the Atlantic regarding maintenance checks and suchlike. Therefore, aircraft that operate transatlantic routes are possibly the safest.
If, however, in the HIGHLY UNLIKELY event of complete engine failure over the Atlantic the aircraft can land on water – and is designed to do so.
There are plenty of examples of aircraft landing safely on water, the most recent of which is the ‘ditching’ of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River in New York. Despite claims that the Captain performed a miracle landing, ALL pilots are trained in how to ditch an aircraft. Only a tiny minority will ever have to utilise that training though.
In summary, it is VERY rare to lose all engine power, and if it does the aircraft can land perfectly safely on water.
you can glide for 30 mins depending what aircraft your on, but if your over water , see ya xx
hope this helps. stick to europe..
Craig….
This is NOT true, and not very helpful either!
Hello,
I became a fearful flyer over the years even though I have flown countless times far distances. Somehow hearing that flying is the safest mode of transportation isn’t enough for me: i need proof. And when I say proof, I mean not biased statistics from Boeing counting fatalities per “passenger miles”. Another example of not convincing stats are the ones presented up above on this web page. It says that more people died in car accidents each year that on plane accidents but of course they don’t mention that so many more people use cars than planes everyday. What would be interesting is to present stats comparing accidents proportionally. For instance, out of all the trips done by car each year (and I bet its more that the number of flights) how many fatal accidents? and out of all the commercial flights per year how many accidents. If you go on wikipedia they present some stats from the english department of transportation showing that on a per trip basis, air travel is less safe than driving.
Hey there, i do understand the facts, and i trust them, i know numbers work. Even though, my grandfather was in the RAF, all those times and hours he spent flying, not once did he have a hiccup, not once has my uncle ever had a problem, and he flies on a weekly, commercial basis, never has any of my family EVER had a problem with flying. Im 17, i watch TV, i blame Air Crash Investigation tbh.