Right Seat: Where credit is due

Depending on the source, anywhere between 40 and 60 crew and passengers died on commercial flights in 2017, out of more than 4 billion passengers. With U.S.-based carriers the record is even better. The last time a person on a U.S. air carrier died on U.S. soil was 2009. It’s a phenomenal span of safe flying that was unimaginable only a few decades ago.

Flying commercial is safer than driving, safer than trains, safer than bicycles, and definitely safer than motorcycles. CNN’s Jon Ostrower made the starkest comparison. “Do you have any idea how extraordinary it is that humanity has created a method of transportation that is literally safer than walking on your own two feet?”

There are myriad reasons for the success, from better simulation and training to more open safety cultures, better maintenance, and advances in cockpit technology. These changes, and many others, have created what could rival some disease eradication efforts as the biggest improvements in health and safety outcomes in modern times. And everyone from the ramp worker to the CEO, and all the way to the top of the government, gets the credit.

Yes, flying has risks. So does walking.In our world of little airplanes, the story is more complex. Because of the dynamic mix of aircraft, pilots, and operating environments, the general aviation safety rate will never be as strong as that of commercial aviation. Our freedom to fly what we want, where we want, when we want, and how we want means we will always accept more risk than the airlines and their strict training, more standardized equipment, and more prescriptive operating procedures. It’s a price we pay to have the freedom to enjoy flying as we wish.

Our more permissive environment results in more fatalities—last fiscal year, the FAA said 347 people died in 209 accidents. That sounds like a lot, and every one is a tragedy. But that number also represents a significant decline from even a few years ago. The FAA calculates the GA fatal accident rate based on the number per 100,000 hours of flying. That rate has gone from 1.1 in fiscal year 2010 to 0.84 last fiscal year, a 24-percent decrease. Like the airlines, the success is attributable to many factors, including better fuel monitoring technology, moving maps, in-cockpit weather, better training, and even airframe parachutes.

It’s not uncommon for a loved one to ask if flying is a safe activity. No doubt they’ve seen the sensational news stories about dramatic crashes. It’s not an easy question to answer. Yes, flying has risks. As Ostrower pointed out, so does walking. The difference between flying, and, say, driving is that an airplane punishes complacency, laziness, and risky behavior far faster and with more finality than a car.

I once asked a colleague who spends his days studying aviation accidents how he could bring himself to go flying after reading all those reports. His reasoning was comforting. Stick to your training, don’t fly in bad weather without an instrument rating, don’t fly low or maneuver aggressively, and master takeoffs and landings—and your chances of getting into an accident are greatly diminished. It’s not unlike motorcycle accidents, where simply riding sober greatly reduces your odds of a crash.

GA flying may not be as safe as taking the airlines, but it’s still an activity with manageable risks and great rewards. Flying is as safe as you—we—want to make it.