Assuring those you love
You have found your passion; you love to fly. Unfortunately the people in your life with whom you would most like to spend air time don't share your enthusiasm. Most likely it's because of their fear of the unknown facet of flight - how safe is it?
In a 1972 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that "safe is not the equivalent of risk-free." The 1998 Nall Report on accident trends and factors in 1997, published by the AOPA Air Safety Foundation, further stated, "If 'safe' meant freedom from the possibility of harm, few human activities would meet the standard."
Yet convincing your spouse or best friend that taking to the skies with you is as risk-free as, say, a walk around the park, is no easy task if your significant other reads the newspaper or watches the TV news. "We receive many calls from members who are looking for insight on how to handle this issue with their spouse or significant other," said Craig Brown, an aviation technical specialist on AOPA's toll-free Pilot Information Center. "Something occurs in a member's local area, and it starts a concern about flying. A member may have been flying for 20 years, but because of a recent incident, his wife is now concerned about his flying."
Doug Wall, AOPA 1298116, a 200-hour private pilot from Dallas, recently called the AOPA Pilot Information Center for help in reassuring his wife that his new hobby is safe. "I started flying when I was 26 but had to put it on hold," said Wall. "Five years later I took it up again, and I'm now married, so I need to convince everyone at home that flying is safe." Wall spoke to Aviation Technical Specialist Paul Smith, who offered answers for his family's concerns and sent statistics to support those answers.
The specialists at the center have a number of informative packages available to you for assistance in sharing your love of flight. The Nall Report is an annual publication of the AOPA Air Safety Foundation that provides safety reports on general aviation. Its statistics - showing that general aviation has been experiencing its safest years ever - can help you to illustrate the comparative safety of flight. And its conclusions, which begin with a 1901 quote by Wilbur Wright - "Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks" - illustrate the comparative safety of general aviation and will help you to communicate with members of your family.
Additionally, the aviation specialists can provide information pertaining to situations in which flight safety is affecting other facets of your life. These include issues such as child custody cases and business flight. A publication of the Aviation Services department, "Custodial and Visitation Flights," provides court case information and legal advice for divorced parents who differ over the right of a noncustodial parent to fly with his or her child. In a recent case, a court in California ruled that "It is practically common knowledge that despite the sensational stories that surface in the news media concerning fatal plane crashes, air flight is safer than car transportation...the court further finds that private aircraft flight is safe…."
If you would like to fly for your business but your employer is concerned about flight safety, AOPA offers an information package that features advice and a comparative analysis of automobile vs. air travel. The information indicates that whether or not an employee should use a private aircraft in the conduct of company business "can and should be approached in the same manner as other management decisions; that is, weighing the benefits against the liabilities and making an individual determination as it relates to a particular company."
Safety awareness has increased substantially over the years since Wilbur Wright first offered his cautionary advice; safety will always depend on training and pilot judgment. According to the 1998 Nall Report, "As in all previous years, the leading causes of fatalities were continued VFR flight into instrument conditions and low-level maneuvering flight. These rather sanitary descriptions of unfortunate situations should more properly be called 'judgment failures.'"
As an AOPA member, you have access to the best resource anywhere for information and answers for pilots. The AOPA toll-free Pilot Information Center gives you direct access to specialists in every area of aviation. The center, 800/USA-AOPA (800/872-2672), is available to members from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday. Information is also available on the Web (www.aopa.org) .
