Flight 4U9525
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- nb0
The argument that flying is safer than driving is generally based on distance travelled. So, if you compare, say, a million Kilometres travelled by car against a million KMs travelled by air, you'd find that more people died in car accidents than died in an airplane crashes. It makes it appear as though flying is much safer.
But, that isn't exactly a fair comparison because people travel much further, much faster and less often by plane. The further the trip, the more likely someone is to fly, as well. And obviously, for transatlantic or transpacific travel, flying is the only option. This skews the numbers.
The bigger thing that skews it, I think, is differences in driving that could change how these statistics apply to you. For deaths in cars, there are a few factors that increase the odds of dying. The biggest contributors are speeding (by far), fatigue, not wearing a seatbelt, distracted driving, and alcohol impairment. So, you can actually improve your odds of dying in a vehicle by being a safe driver and wearing your seatbelt. Of course you can't control others, but you would absolutely reduce your odds of dying in an accident by being a safe driver. I'd bet if you look at the statistics of "safe" drivers (actual safe drivers, not people who think they are so good at driving that they can speed or talk on the phone when they want) you'd find that driving is relatively safe. And what about how far you drive, and where you need to go? Many people commute daily on highways where the speed is 110km/h or greater. Personally, my commute is in a city where traffic and roads ensure I’m never capable of driving over 60km/h, and the vast majority of the trip is starting/stopping between 0km/h and 30km/h. It’s quite difficult to die in a car at slow speeds unless someone hits you doing much faster. But, it’s unlikely to see anyone able to get to those fast speeds in a city where commuting means traffic jams and slow driving. Stay away from freeways, because it’s hard to die in a crash when you’re going slow.
In an airplane, you don't have the option to improve your own personal odds. The odds are basically the same for everyone on every flight, other than flying in the summer vs winter, and where you choose to fly (e.g., flying over mountains might be more dangerous, not sure). Virtually every airline in every country now follows the same type of training and safety practices. Eg. Two pilots required to act as a “check” against each other at all times, similar safety checks, similar training, similar rules about fatigue, etc. This has been standardized since about the early 90s, I think, when many countries wanted to improve their safety records to remain competitive in air travel. And you can be sure that when a plane crashes, everyone has their seatbelt and is folded over in the correct position in an attempt to save themselves.
So, airplane deaths happen despite the fact that everyone is always doing everything in the safest way possible. Vehicle death probability varies greatly with driver choices.
It's a global standardization, which skews everything, too. If we look at regional automobile deaths, we find massive differences when comparing two regions: for example comparing an area of India against Sweden. What I'm saying here is: if you happen to live to Sweden and never drive in India, the global driving statistics aren't relevant to you.
TLDR: driving is probably a little safer than flying on a per trip basis. And driving is especially safer if you're a safe, alert, well-practiced driver, and you happen to be driving in a region that has fewer automobile deaths than the global average.
- meh - I would hate to have to have dinner or drinks with you.fadein11
- did you really waste your time posting this?PonyBoy
- "don't have the shellfish"
"oh fuck off and let me enjoy my dinner"fadein11 - lolz downvoted. person probably didnt even read what you wrote.CygnusZero4
- @ponyboy - yep it looks that way.fadein11
- I fell out of the sky reading all that.detritus
- This is the kind of answer that would get hundreds of upvotes on Redditdjmix
- Oh, I fly all the time, I don't care if it's safe or not. I love travelling, I'm not going to sit around in one city because of a statistic!nb
- I ride a motorbike as my main transportation in the summer. I don't care much about safety. Motorbikes are fun. So is flying.nb
- Flying is NOT fun any more.
Signed,
Someone who flew a lot in the 80sdetritus - People who think flying is fun are people who probably get on a plane just once every 2 years.iCanHazQBN
- I fly almost every month, the "fun" part is being able to jump on a plane & arrive in a new climate or completely different culture the same day. Never gets oldnb
- TL:DRETM
- CygnusZero40
I know the statistics say its safer than driving, so why the hell am I still so terrified to fly? Because this giant super heavy unnatural machine is being pushed off the ground by a couple engines. Or youre in a copter or smaller plane being propelled along by something spinning really fast.
It doesnt matter that major airline crashes are rare, in my mind its still much more dangerous. I feel like the chances are better at something major failing during takeoff than anytime I get in my little car to roll around.
- I think it has do with the illusion of control. You're not active in controlling the plane, you feel in control of the car. It's psychological.nb
- Plus, a minor problem on a plane could mean death. A minor problem with your car is not going to kill you. I can understand the fear. But, fuck it, dude!nb
- All feelings, not based on fact. It's just like any other fear. It's not easy to get over but it's possible.Jaline
- Well I do fly. Im not one of these people that wont just bc of my fear of it.CygnusZero4
- But Im not sure Ill ever really feel its safer.CygnusZero4
- Also doesnt help I knew someone on swissair 111. Rich Coburn.CygnusZero4
- "a minor problem on a plane could mean death. A minor problem with your car is not going to kill you." exactly, it's not all irrational fear ;)Jaline
- I don't trust the self-belaying device in the rock climbing place I go to. Would rather have a person in charge of my fate, hahaJaline
- OMG fuck those auto belays. There's no tension!dorkKn1ght
- srhadden0
toilet with saloon doors inside cockpits, captains never allowed to leave cockpit.
and a lot of these
- kona0
This is why I only Rollerblade
- http://i00.i.aliimg.…detritus
- ^
All the hobo-killing equipment you'll ever need.detritus - lol konaiCanHazQBN
- someones going to tell you flying is safer lolCygnusZero4
- utopian0
- DELIBERATE!CygnusZero4
- its responsive too :/CygnusZero4
- Ugh, CNN is despicable.nb
- lolz showing the bodies wrapped up. stay classyCygnusZero4
- That's disgusting CNNkona
- sarahfailin0
The co-pilot had only a few hundred hours of logged fly time, locked the pilot out of the cabin and set the door so that it could not be opened from the outside-- a security feature added to planes post-9/11.
- Beeswax-1
How come he was breating calmly until the impact?
I mean even if you decide to commit suicide don't you get nervous a bit?
Also why would he steadily lower the plane instead of diving down?- I'm guessing unconciousmarychain
- Yeah...I know suicide/murder is a "better" story...whatevermarychain
- unconciously lock the door and unconciously activated the descent plan that can be activated only by a human?benfal99
- Oh, I didn't know you were a pilot benfal. I am...please tell me moremarychain
- He wasn't unconsciousfadein11
- the door locks automatically and can only be opened from the inside, benfal the pilot.set
- they explain and shows a video explaining all this in the news over herebenfal99
- BusterBoy-1
Looks like the pilot had a history of mental health issues.
- source?instrmntl
- http://www.theage.co…BusterBoy
- Hard to screen for that kind of issue though I suppose.BusterBoy
- benfal990
Google Translate from a french news website:
"The co-pilot of the Airbus A320 Germanwings, suspected of deliberately caused the crash of the aircraft in the French Alps, hid he was the subject of a sick leave the day of the accident, Friday the Düsseldorf Parquet"
'The investigators found in his forms of "Detailed sick leave, torn" and also concerned "the day of the incident," the prosecutor said in a statement, without specifying the nature of the "disease."
Andreas Lubitz, suffered from severe depression there six years and was regularly followed medically since, said Friday the German newspaper Bild who had access to official documents.'
- It doesn't look good. I'll give you that.marychain
- um why was he allowed to have 100s of peoples lives in his hands?CygnusZero4
- Prosecutors already? Seems like the airlines are CYA'ing.instrmntl
- set0
Sounds to me like he simply became unconscious in the cockpit and the whole thing was bad luck. That would explain the calm breathing and why the pilot couldn't get back in.
As someone else stated, even if he wanted to die his breathing would not have been calm had he been awake, knowing he was about to smash into the side of a mountain at 400m/h.
- set0
Pilot used axe to try and get back in
- benfal990
When they say people on board knew only at the very end there were something wrong, they didn't hear the pilot knocking and pounding the door? And they say he may have used an axe... I'm pretty sure people on board knew and feels something bad was happening.
people close to portholes saw the ground coming, that must have been terrible.
- benfal990
Seriously, is it possible to have parachutes for everyone on a commercial plane? Like in last resort, everyone jump? Or is it too complicated to manage?
- Was just saying this yesterday. I'll take my 0.5% chance at survival, over 0%.dirtydesign
- lots of article about this on the web, here's one: http://gizmodo.com/w…benfal99
- there's lot of article about giant parachutes for the whole plane alsobenfal99
- I'm sure the cost and weight of the parachute would make it near impossible for airlines to do thisgoldieboy
- Can't parachute at 35000 feet bramarychain
- Plus the speed...nomarychain
- two words: DB Cooper._niko
- yeah...never found him..why? cause he died yomarychain
- CygnusZero40
Reports today that he had an ongoing "illness", and kept it secret from the airline. He actually had ripped up medical leave papers, and was cleared to take off work the day of the crash and he dismissed it.
- benfal991
- http://innopedia.wik…benfal99
- Would have been useless in this case as the 'sane' pilot was locked out.goldieboy
- ^ just thinking that. only useful if theres a mechanical error.CygnusZero4
- problem with that is, it usually only happens on takeoff and landingCygnusZero4
- this would crack the plane in half, because the body is made of aluminiumgeorgesIII
- i think this is more an idea for 50 years from now when shit is being built completely differently.CygnusZero4
- Someone should put this shit on a t-shirt. Save the cheerleader, save the world.detritus
- Great idea, self destruct buttons on airplanes. I know I'd feel a lot safer.Riley
- _niko0
how about something like this but sealed, each with its own parachute, O2 supply and would also float. made of carbon fibre or other super light weight material.
- so far fetched. maybe we'll see this in 100 years.CygnusZero4
- If airlines weren't money grabbing corporations, then maybe this would happen.set
- Airlines want to pack as much people as possible in their plane to rack more cash. Those take way too much space. Maybe for rich people.benfal99
- There is "acceptable loss" in everything, from airplanes to buildings (seismic) - no one will pay for extra safetyformed
- and the purple just doesn't workGnash
- This is what apple should be working on, not a useless watch._niko
- but Apple doesn't care an iota for anything but ego and money ;-)formed
- instrmntl2
Pilots don't go through all their training to take down a plane. Not only that, they guy was a flight attendant while he went to pilot school to be in the industry. It doesn't add up. People are too quick to point fingers, propagated by 24 hour news stations. It would be a shame to smear this pilots name after his death if he wasn't to blame.
- To be fair..everything that we have been told i.e. audio recording, blackbox box data have all indicated that the plane was deliberately crashed by the copilot.utopian
- no it doesn'tset
- Indeed! Why let evidence, analysis or logic get in the way of a good fantasy?detritus
- Sure, pilots don't do this. This is a first, right? But is it so hard to believe that he became depressed or unwound after he became a pilot?nb
- Not a first...it's happened several times before.marychain
- CygnusZero40
Pilots who went through all the training and tests have snapped and done this a bunch of times before.
Whats very different about this is how slow the descent was. Normally when a pilot snaps, they put the plane into a straight dive. This guy brought the plane down like he was coming in for a normal emergency landing. That part of this I find really unusual.
- Not really. You decide to kill yourself - do you make your last few minutes calm, or traumatic, for yourself? You choose.detritus
- I think I would end it as quickly as possible. Nose dive. Not extend it over 10 minutes.CygnusZero4
- Every plane suicide ive heard of was nose dived. Never heard of a slower decent to kill themselves before.CygnusZero4
- Maybe he was suffering a mental condition and hallucinated the landing.
Don't people do weird shit too when they have a stroke?dorkKn1ght - So you think there's only ONE way to commit suicide with a plane? And its dive straigth?benfal99
- oh no guys, after 9//11 pilots can't just nose dive a plane, if you want to put it down you have to do it like this, set to landing on a place with mountainsfeel
- I think that's been the case since planes went mostly fly-by-wiredetritus
