Flying

It's amazing how safe its become.

One of my favorite recent comedy clips is one by Louis CK entitled: Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy.

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxvWndNm08c57musqcf9XME3L0ny9lB81Y?feature=shared

<If you didn’t watch that clip it’s basically a celebration of flight.>

This leads me to today’s post.

Flying is amazingly safe.

Compared to the post-war period, we have gone from an average of 10-15 fatal accidents per 1 million flights to just .11 today! And if we change the focus to deaths, in 1959, there were 1,062 fatalities on commercial aircraft worldwide. In 2021 there were just 121!

Now those stats are going back to the 1950s, but here’s the chart which also inspired this post. It chronicles advancements in safety from the 70s.

As Louis said, flying is incredible. We should be appreciative of how great it is every time we don’t need to use roads to take a vacation. It’s that good.

The fact that it’s also insanely safe is even better.

After the paywall, we chronicle just why it’s become so safe.

Commercial airline travel has become significantly safer over the past 50 years due to several factors:

1. Improved aircraft design and technology: Modern aircraft are built with advanced materials, redundant systems, and better aerodynamics, making them more reliable and less prone to mechanical failures.

2. Enhanced air traffic control and navigation systems: The advent of sophisticated radar, satellite-based navigation, and communication systems has greatly improved air traffic management, reducing the risk of mid-air collisions and ensuring more efficient routing.

3. Stricter safety regulations and oversight: Aviation authorities have implemented more stringent regulations and safety protocols for airlines, manufacturers, and personnel, leading to better maintenance practices, crew training, and operational procedures.

4. Advances in weather forecasting: Improved weather forecasting capabilities and real-time weather data sharing have enabled better flight planning and decision-making, reducing the risk of encountering hazardous weather conditions.

5. Increased focus on human factors: The industry has placed greater emphasis on crew resource management, fatigue management, and human-machine interface design, addressing human errors that historically contributed to accidents.

6. Lessons learned from past accidents: Investigations into past accidents have led to valuable safety improvements, such as the introduction of cockpit voice recorders and enhanced fire protection measures.

Overall, while air travel is not entirely risk-free, the combination of technological advancements, stricter regulations, and a comprehensive approach to safety has made commercial airline flights significantly safer compared to five decades ago.