Air travel is the safest mode of transportation

[randomint]

I still feel alittle uneasy knowing that the chances of surviving a plane crash are extremely slim as opposed to an automobile accident where most crashes don't result in fatalities .

Overwhelmingly, most of the deaths/injuries come from the intense impact of the plane with the surface (land or water). No matter what one does sitting inside the fuselage, it almost impossible to survive a high-speed/altitude crash. The only logical way of minimizing this would be to slow down the speed at which a plane falls to minimize the damage from impact. Isn't there anyone who's working on it? I mean is it really almost impossible to devise a method to accomplish this? Giant parachutes?

 

[Killerme33]

Or just don't crash.

 

[KK]

I believe there are some small planes equiped with chutes. That pitchers plane was equipped, but it doesn't do much good when you hit the side of a building

 

[TallBill]

Actually when comparing miles traveled per person per day, cars and planes are nearly identical.

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: randomint
I still feel alittle uneasy knowing that the chances of surviving a plane crash are extremely slim as opposed to an automobile accident where most crashes don't result in fatalities .

Overwhelmingly, most of the deaths/injuries come from the intense impact of the plane with the surface (land or water). No matter what one does sitting inside the fuselage, it almost impossible to survive a high-speed/altitude crash. The only logical way of minimizing this would be to slow down the speed at which a plane falls to minimize the damage from impact. Isn't there anyone who's working on it? I mean is it really almost impossible to devise a method to accomplish this? Giant parachutes?

Giant parachutes? on a plane weighing ~200 tons empty(747 weight) and flying close to 600 mph? If a plane is going down, there's nothing to stop it. Just get yourself a bus and travel around like John Madden.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: KK
I believe there are some small planes equiped with chutes. That pitchers plane was equipped, but it doesn't do much good when you hit the side of a building

Yes, on a plane weighing 1500lbs that flies at about 120mph. You'd need a hell of a parachute to slow down a plane 500 times as heavy going 4 times as fast.

 

[talyn00]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: KK
I believe there are some small planes equiped with chutes. That pitchers plane was equipped, but it doesn't do much good when you hit the side of a building

Yes, on a plane weighing 1500lbs that flies at about 120mph. You'd need a hell of a parachute to slow down a plane 500 times as heavy going 4 times as fast.

I don't believe he was referring to parachutes used to slow a plane, but for passengers to use to escape.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: KK
I believe there are some small planes equiped with chutes. That pitchers plane was equipped, but it doesn't do much good when you hit the side of a building

Yes, on a plane weighing 1500lbs that flies at about 120mph. You'd need a hell of a parachute to slow down a plane 500 times as heavy going 4 times as fast.

lol. think a little harder

 

[novasatori]

clearly every seat needs to be replaced with an ACES II

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: talyn00

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: KK
I believe there are some small planes equiped with chutes. That pitchers plane was equipped, but it doesn't do much good when you hit the side of a building

Yes, on a plane weighing 1500lbs that flies at about 120mph. You'd need a hell of a parachute to slow down a plane 500 times as heavy going 4 times as fast.

I don't believe he was referring to parachutes used to slow a plane, but for passengers to use to escape.

If he was, it's a pretty ridiculous idea. When do you teach these passengers how to skydive? Do you replace every aircraft in airline service with one that has a door suitable for skydiving on it? Do the pilots get to jump, or are they obligated to do their best to try not to crash the plane, since you know *someone* is going to be too afraid to jump out of it. If the pilots *do* jump, does the family of the guy who was too scared to jump get to sue the airline for not trying to save his life? If the pilots don't jump, can the pilots family sue the airline because the "you can't jump out of the plane while passengers are still on it" policy got the pilots killed?

 

[randomint]

Originally posted by: talyn00

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: KK
I believe there are some small planes equiped with chutes. That pitchers plane was equipped, but it doesn't do much good when you hit the side of a building

Yes, on a plane weighing 1500lbs that flies at about 120mph. You'd need a hell of a parachute to slow down a plane 500 times as heavy going 4 times as fast.

I don't believe he was referring to parachutes used to slow a plane, but for passengers to use to escape.

Actually I was talking about parachutes for the plane. I was thinking more along the lines of something that would slow the plane down in the 5-8 minutes it takes it to crash after an engine failure for example. i mean it does take sometime for the plane to plunge down 30000-40000 feet.

 

[eflat]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Actually when comparing miles traveled per person per day, cars and planes are nearly identical.

Is this true? I've always suspected that such a comparison would even things out..

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: CitizenDoug

Originally posted by: TallBill
Actually when comparing miles traveled per person per day, cars and planes are nearly identical.

Is this true? I've always suspected that such a comparison would even things out..

Yes, google for statistics, but I've seen it from multiple sources. Airplanes are still a tad bit safer, but not by much.

 

[Dunbar]

Originally posted by: CitizenDoug

Originally posted by: TallBill
Actually when comparing miles traveled per person per day, cars and planes are nearly identical.

Is this true? I've always suspected that such a comparison would even things out..

No, he's getting his facts wrong. Steven D. Levitt points out in Freakonomics that the per-hour death rate is nearly identical. But since most people spend far more time in their cars they are much more likely to die in a car. Roughly 40,000 people die in car crashes in the US, versus less than a thousand in planes. If you boarded a airliner every day statistically it would take 100 years before you got in an accident, and you'd still probably survive.

 

[FoBoT]

commercial airliners crash so rarely anymore, i think they have it covered

 

[gsethi]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
commercial airliners crash so rarely anymore, i think they have it covered

well..I would wait few more years before saying that statement. The current fleet is just starting to get old (the 737s and the earlier 747s came out in the 80s).

Wait till they get to the 30yr old mark and airlines hesitate to replace them/squeeze every mile out of them ?

 

[50cent1228]

all passengers should have an emergency eject button on their seat

 

[LongCoolMother]

i dont feel secure on planes, even given the facts. when something goes wrong with the plane, you're stuck in the air, thousands of feet above sea level. there's nothing you can do except.....sit there....and hope you don't die. At least in a car you have some solid ground beneath you. grants a better sense of security.

In a plane, if the plane is screwed, chances are all the passengers of the plane are screwed.

 

[gsethi]

Originally posted by: LongCoolMother
i dont feel secure on planes, even given the facts. when something goes wrong with the plane, you're stuck in the air, thousands of feet above sea level. there's nothing you can do except.....sit there....and hope you don't die. At least in a car you have some solid ground beneath you. grants a better sense of security.

In a plane, if the plane is screwed, chances are all the passengers of the plane are screwed.

But on a plane, your loved ones are saved with your final expenses . In a car, they are bombarded with your final expenses and might curse your dead body

 

[Mo0o]

Freakonomics touched on this but if you factor everything in, cars and airplanes are about teh same in danger.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: gsethi

Originally posted by: FoBoT
commercial airliners crash so rarely anymore, i think they have it covered

well..I would wait few more years before saying that statement. The current fleet is just starting to get old (the 737s and the earlier 747s came out in the 80s).

Wait till they get to the 30yr old mark and airlines hesitate to replace them/squeeze every mile out of them ?

747s came out in the 80's? They were out in the late 60's.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: gsethi

Originally posted by: FoBoT
commercial airliners crash so rarely anymore, i think they have it covered

well..I would wait few more years before saying that statement. The current fleet is just starting to get old (the 737s and the earlier 747s came out in the 80s).

Wait till they get to the 30yr old mark and airlines hesitate to replace them/squeeze every mile out of them ?

747s came out in the 80's? They were out in the late 60's.

1970.

 

[randomint]

Originally posted by: LongCoolMother
i dont feel secure on planes, even given the facts. when something goes wrong with the plane, you're stuck in the air, thousands of feet above sea level. there's nothing you can do except.....sit there....and hope you don't die. At least in a car you have some solid ground beneath you. grants a better sense of security.

In a plane, if the plane is screwed, chances are all the passengers of the plane are screwed.

Precisely my point. IF something happens, the chances of EVERYONE perishing are much, much greater than an automobile accident. You pretty much know you are gone when something goes wrong that high up.

 

[Midlander]

Originally posted by: randomint

Originally posted by: talyn00

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: KK
I believe there are some small planes equiped with chutes. That pitchers plane was equipped, but it doesn't do much good when you hit the side of a building

Yes, on a plane weighing 1500lbs that flies at about 120mph. You'd need a hell of a parachute to slow down a plane 500 times as heavy going 4 times as fast.

I don't believe he was referring to parachutes used to slow a plane, but for passengers to use to escape.

Actually I was talking about parachutes for the plane. I was thinking more along the lines of something that would slow the plane down in the 5-8 minutes it takes it to crash after an engine failure for example. i mean it does take sometime for the plane to plunge down 30000-40000 feet.

I don't think many planes crash because of engine failure. Most are on takeoff or landing.

 

[Dunbar]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Freakonomics touched on this but if you factor everything in, cars and airplanes are about teh same in danger.

Wrong, I have it in front of me. He said that the per-hour death rate is the same. In other words, if you spent 100 hours on a plane and 100 hours in a car you are equally as likely to die. But since most people spend far more time in their car they are much more likely to die in a car crash. If what you said were true the following statistics could not be true (2005 data)

Airlines - 787 billion passenger miles traveled (US) - 22 fatalities (713 in the entire world)
Cars - 2.7 trillion (2,749 billion) vehicle miles traveled in 2000 (last year available) - 44,433 fatailities