Airplane Safety and the FAA
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration released a study of airplane safety that cited eleven airlines -- including Southwest -- with flying old planes that the FAA deemed unsafe. Facing a fine of more than $10 million, Southwest may have to pay up for flying planes without checking for fuselage cracks.
No wonder those Air Berlin passengers were nervous.
In a recent report [PDF] on how the FAA inspects planes, the writers point out that there have been no passenger fatalities on a major U.S. carrier since Aug. 2006, more than two years ago (assuming we don't count passengers who die en route of natural causes).
Meanwhile, the Spanair crash on Aug. 20 and news about the British Airways crash in January.
Thank goodness the busy summer travel season's over; it doesn't seem like a good time to be flying the unfriendly skies.
But is flying really so dangerous?
The FAA says that American commercial airlines carry more than 750 passengers a year. There hasn't been an on-board fatality in two years. Yet knowing that problems with planes persist, even in a small number of planes, can be a little unsettling.
I'd like to know: Have you reconsidered flying in light of recent crashes and revelations by the FAA? Has this changed how you travel? Or do airplane safety concerns take a back seat to rising ticket prices and added fees?
** Correction: The FAA says that American commercial airlines carry more than 750 million passengers a year.
By Christina Talcott |
September 17, 2008; 1:19 PM ET
| Category:
Air Travel
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Airplanes
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Christina Talcott
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Posted by: Chasmosaur | September 17, 2008 2:17 PM
Doesn't seem like a good time to be flying the friendly skies? Huh? How is it different now than over the summer? Did you even read the full report? Are you saying there's a crash scheduled in the next few weeks? I repeat: Huh????
Posted by: BizTraveler | September 17, 2008 3:20 PM
Argh, please don't pander to the mindless worry-warts.
Why are we even concerned about how "dangerous" flying is when well over 40K people died on US highways in the last year for which data is available, and the per-mile-traveled risk is many times higher for driving?
There's enough irrationality to go around already ("hey, those scary sharks killed TWO PEOPLE THIS YEAR"), let's focus on real issues,eh?
Posted by: omars | September 17, 2008 4:23 PM
I'm with omars on this one . . . what's the point????
Posted by: CARL | September 17, 2008 5:19 PM
The discomfort and costs of flying can be deterrents. But safety is not.
That does not mean that Southwest and others should get away with dodging needed repairs, but the redundancy built into the critical functions of planes plus the skills of the crews make flying a lot safer than driving.
Posted by: Oscar | September 18, 2008 4:48 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
"The FAA says that American commercial airlines carry more than 750 passengers a year."
Um...huh? 750 passengers?