How safe is flying these days? With security officials continuing their investigation into what happened to the recently downed EgyptAir Flight 804, many travelers can't help but question the risks they face when boarding their next flight.
Statistics show that flying by plane is still one of the safest ways to travel. More than 3.5 billion people flew safely on 37.6 million flights in 2015, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) while in the same year there were 122 plane crashes worldwide resulting in 898 people losing their lives. This is considered a small proportion of the total number of air passengers, below the 10-year average and rated by AirlineRatings.com as a safer year for aviation than the previous 12 months.
According to aviation analysts, 2016 may turn out to be one of the safest years in recent aviation history. This, despite air accidents such as EgyptAir flight MS804 and the March crashes of Germanwings A320 from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany and Flydubai Airlines from Dubai to Russia.
According to most research groups, traveling by plane is still one of the safest forms of travel compared to bus or car travel. Although statistics for driving and flying are not directly comparable, there are numbers that back up the safety of air travel over car travel. Studies have shown that the chance of dying in a car accident each year in the United States is about 10 per 100,000, or 100 per million people. In contrast, the chance of dying in an airplane accident is less than 1 in 14 million globally. Other studies have shown that the average number of years you can expect to fly before dying in an air crash is 14,176. The numbers vary, of course, according to how much one flies.
So why do so many people experience anxiety symptoms when traveling? Why does the supposed risk of flying loom greater than it really is?
No Control
The most common reason given in response to the question of why someone fears flying more than driving is that the lack of control when sitting in a plane makes one uneasy. The thought of being suspended in midair at the mercy of an unfamiliar pilot is frightening especially for those traveling long distances. And since studies have shown that most people think they are better than average drivers, sitting behind the wheel of a car gives them tremendous confidence and a sense of self control.
Media Increases Fears
Another reason fear is griping many airline travelers is that airplane crashes are often far more catastrophic than car accidents in terms of lives lost, and they grab the media headlines. Within minutes, we are informed all about the incident—its route, the number of passengers etc. and we empathize with fatalities and their families. If all tragic car accidents were presented in the news with as much detail, people would find themselves experiencing the same sympathies and might begin to question the safety of automobile use, though it is doubtful that there would be a drop in the amount of cars on the road.
Terrorism
The threat of terrorist hijacking the plane is another fear that has entered the psyche of the airplane traveler. Perhaps it is unrealistic to believe that there is more chance of a terrorist plot on a plane than in an airport or train station, but our brains tell us differently. And once again, feeling totally out of control, thousands of kilometers up in the air, seems imminently more frightening than the possibility of running away from an exploding bomb or a gun-crazy terrorist whilst on the ground.
Much is being done in the security arena to make airline travel even more secure than it has been until now. But it will never be full proof and there is always a risk of something happening. Still, air travel remains safer statistically than other means of transportation and we can only hope that we reach our destination successfully.
(Culled from dailyforex.com)
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