The Malaysia flight 370’s disappearance has left the world on edge. 239 people here one second, gone the next. Among the biggest questions involving the case is “How does that even happen?” What’s most disconcerting, especially for the families of those on board, is that there are no answers. We do not know what caused the disappearance, but for many it makes us ponder about how safe airplanes really are.
Like with anything, there are instances when things go wrong, but planes are actually much safer than most people think. In fact, according to the Public Broadcasting Service not only are airplanes safer to travel in than cars, but you also have a 1 in 11 million chance of dying while on an airplane compared to the 1 in 5,000 chance you have of dying every time you enter an automobile.
Airlines take much care to prevent any possible bad scenarios from occurring in the first place, and they also make sure that there is little to no room for backup failures that could result catastrophically. Plane fuel is one example: all commercial airplanes by law must carry enough fuel to travel to their destination, miss landing, go to the farthest second possible landing site, be in the air for 30 minutes, and still have 10% of their fuel total fuel left in reserve.
In addition, not only is engine failure very unlikely, a plane can still land safely with only one engine and if both engines were to fail, they can still glide 30 minutes in the air without relying on either engine.
Most people who are afraid of flying are likely afraid of it because they are afraid of heights or have a combined fear of crashing while so high off the ground.
Planes practically fly themselves. As scary as it may sound, it may be more of a good thing than a bad thing. Technology has advanced so far that even if a pilot were to fall asleep, the plane would be able to fly without any issues.
Pilots are professionals. Most of them have attended college and all of them must have about 3,000 hours of flying experience before they get their pilot license.
All in all, even though sometimes it’s difficult to find comfort in statistics, they are the only thing we have to prove that commercial airline travel is as safe as it gets and it likely will only keep getting safer.
