Today I just got back from Houston for Thanksgiving break. I took a plane because I felt a 17 hour car trip would seem a little too long. Instead of driving I took a plane (Southwest) first from Houston to Dallas then from Dallas to Lubbock. There were some light showers and there was some turbulence. For some reason in the air I didn’t feel as safe as if I was in the car. I suppose many other people feel the same way. I saw an article recently that showed that airplanes are 7 times safer in 2008 than in 1989 (1.4 fatal accidents per million as opposed to .2 fatal accidents per million). Technology, regulations, and more experience in the air have made all of this possible. When I was walking off the plane I peeked into the cockpit to see what type of instruments the pilots used. I kid you not the dash area and whole cockpit area looked as if it was a little laboratory with all kinds of dials, switches, and display screens. Pilots now have technology and safety features that the Wright Brothers could only dream of!
With this said, people like myself and others sometimes feel a little unsafe when flying the shear evidence that flying is the safest form of transportation. My theory on why this may be true is that people have some kind of bias to where they believe even though the statistics say one thing events occur often more than they really do. An example of this would be to ask people how often they believe an airplane crashes. It should also be pointed out that anyone who watches the news or reads the newspaper might be lead to believe that airplane crashes happen occur more often than when they do. What people fail to realize is how unsafe other forms of transportation are such as driving, riding a bike, or even walking. More people die from these accidents than from fatal airplane accidents. Although, it might be hard to convince people that flying is safer than walking.
Another reason I think people tend to be fearful of flying is that they are not in control of the airplane. Pilots are delegated this duty and passengers are just along for the ride. Individual passengers really have no say in how the pilots fly which takes some of the control away from the passenger. One question that comes to mind however is that since people know that not all pilots have the skills and experience why not have differential pricing for different pilots? In practical terms this would be hard to carry out. First off pilots do basically the same thing which is to get you to your final destination. Second, crashes or accidents happen so infrequently it would be hard to quantify this through price. Also factors such as the weather could have a major influence on how people perceive their pilot even though pilots only have so much control. I would file this under 99% theoretical and 1% practical.
People should be aware that flight safety has greatly improved over the past 20 years and it will continue become more advanced. As the number of flights increase airline companies, researchers, and plane manufactures will be able to make safer planes. Next time you are in the airplane just remember if you were able to survive the trip to the airport you will survive the plane ride.
Source:
http://www.livescience.com/culture/090601-air-crashes.html
With this said, people like myself and others sometimes feel a little unsafe when flying the shear evidence that flying is the safest form of transportation. My theory on why this may be true is that people have some kind of bias to where they believe even though the statistics say one thing events occur often more than they really do. An example of this would be to ask people how often they believe an airplane crashes. It should also be pointed out that anyone who watches the news or reads the newspaper might be lead to believe that airplane crashes happen occur more often than when they do. What people fail to realize is how unsafe other forms of transportation are such as driving, riding a bike, or even walking. More people die from these accidents than from fatal airplane accidents. Although, it might be hard to convince people that flying is safer than walking.
Another reason I think people tend to be fearful of flying is that they are not in control of the airplane. Pilots are delegated this duty and passengers are just along for the ride. Individual passengers really have no say in how the pilots fly which takes some of the control away from the passenger. One question that comes to mind however is that since people know that not all pilots have the skills and experience why not have differential pricing for different pilots? In practical terms this would be hard to carry out. First off pilots do basically the same thing which is to get you to your final destination. Second, crashes or accidents happen so infrequently it would be hard to quantify this through price. Also factors such as the weather could have a major influence on how people perceive their pilot even though pilots only have so much control. I would file this under 99% theoretical and 1% practical.
People should be aware that flight safety has greatly improved over the past 20 years and it will continue become more advanced. As the number of flights increase airline companies, researchers, and plane manufactures will be able to make safer planes. Next time you are in the airplane just remember if you were able to survive the trip to the airport you will survive the plane ride.
Source:
http://www.livescience.com/culture/090601-air-crashes.html
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