Flight Safety

[Jay Honeck]

Last year in America, 1307 people died by falling off a ladder, while
only 733 died in plane crashes.

(Source: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/mor-
mortality&all=1)

The message here is clear -- we need to fly more, and pay someone else
to paint the house...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Milen Lazarov]

On 2007-02-04, Jay Honeck > wrote:
> Last year in America, 1307 people died by falling off a ladder, while
> only 733 died in plane crashes.
>
> (Source: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/mor-
> mortality&all=1)
>
> The message here is clear -- we need to fly more, and pay someone else
> to paint the house...
>

On the other hand only one died from being bitten by a rat. I hope the
message is not uhm... no.. I don't even want to think about it... :)

[Jim Macklin]

It is safer to a soldier in Iraq than a citizen in
Washington, DC [if the email I got the other day is
correct].



"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
ups.com...
| Last year in America, 1307 people died by falling off a
ladder, while
| only 733 died in plane crashes.
|
| (Source:
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/mor-
| mortality&all=1)
|
| The message here is clear -- we need to fly more, and pay
someone else
| to paint the house...
|
| ;-)
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|

[Mxsmanic]

Jay Honeck writes:

> Last year in America, 1307 people died by falling off a ladder, while
> only 733 died in plane crashes.

How many people used ladders, and how many flew in aircraft? More
specifically, how many used ladders and how many died, and how many
flew in GA aircraft and how many died.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

[BDS]

"Mxsmanic" > wrote

> How many people used ladders, and how many flew in aircraft? More
> specifically, how many used ladders and how many died, and how many
> flew in GA aircraft and how many died.

More importantly, if you have rats in your hangar and you use a ladder to
get into your airplane, you're pretty much a goner!

BDS

[Ben Jeffrey]

"BDS" > wrote in message
. net...
>
> "Mxsmanic" > wrote
>
>> How many people used ladders, and how many flew in aircraft? More
>> specifically, how many used ladders and how many died, and how many
>> flew in GA aircraft and how many died.
>
> More importantly, if you have rats in your hangar and you use a ladder to
> get into your airplane, you're pretty much a goner!
>
> BDS
>
>


Flatulence and related conditions: 5 deaths

[Tony]

It's been a long time since I studied the stats, but I seem to recall
GA on a per mile basis was safer than a motorcycle, less safe than a
car. (GA accidents divided by GA miles flown, vs motorcycle accidents
divided by motocycle miles, and so forth).


When you removed the real bone headed accidents from the GA inventory,
like driving wile drunk or flying into IMC without proper skills,
thinks like that, it got to be about as safe as driving. Knowing
something about statistics and improbable events, it's a risk I was
happy to take.

It was a lot of years ago, but my own insurance carrier (Northwest
Mutual) did not ask for an additional premium because I was a pilot.
That's what improbable events are all about -- a typical GA pilot
might fly 100 hours a year -- say at 120 miles an hour -- so that's
12000 miles. He probably drives twice that (GA pilots do travel more
than most people) so the driving risk of accident is probably greater
than the flying risk.

I don't know what the risks are in playing with a flight sim, but we
have some evidence it makes some seemingly intellegent people become
difficult socially. It makes me wonder, does the frame rate flicker of
the sim induce some mental disorders?









On Feb 3, 11:48 pm, "Jay Honeck" > wrote:
> Last year in America, 1307 people died by falling off a ladder, while
> only 733 died in plane crashes.
>
> (Source:http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/mor-
> mortality&all=1)
>
> The message here is clear -- we need to fly more, and pay someone else
> to paint the house...
>
> ;-)
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"

[tom418]

Now, now, Tony... :)
"Tony" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> It's been a long time since I studied the stats, but I seem to recall
> GA on a per mile basis was safer than a motorcycle, less safe than a
> car. (GA accidents divided by GA miles flown, vs motorcycle accidents
> divided by motocycle miles, and so forth).
>
>
> When you removed the real bone headed accidents from the GA inventory,
> like driving wile drunk or flying into IMC without proper skills,
> thinks like that, it got to be about as safe as driving. Knowing
> something about statistics and improbable events, it's a risk I was
> happy to take.
>
> It was a lot of years ago, but my own insurance carrier (Northwest
> Mutual) did not ask for an additional premium because I was a pilot.
> That's what improbable events are all about -- a typical GA pilot
> might fly 100 hours a year -- say at 120 miles an hour -- so that's
> 12000 miles. He probably drives twice that (GA pilots do travel more
> than most people) so the driving risk of accident is probably greater
> than the flying risk.
>
> I don't know what the risks are in playing with a flight sim, but we
> have some evidence it makes some seemingly intellegent people become
> difficult socially. It makes me wonder, does the frame rate flicker of
> the sim induce some mental disorders?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 3, 11:48 pm, "Jay Honeck" > wrote:
> > Last year in America, 1307 people died by falling off a ladder, while
> > only 733 died in plane crashes.
> >
> > (Source:http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/mor-
> > mortality&all=1)
> >
> > The message here is clear -- we need to fly more, and pay someone else
> > to paint the house...
> >
> > ;-)
> > --
> > Jay Honeck
> > Iowa City, IA
> > Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
> > "Your Aviation Destination"
>
>

[Jon Woellhaf]

Tony wrote
> It's been a long time since I studied the stats, but I seem to recall
> GA on a per mile basis was safer than a motorcycle, less safe than a
> car. (GA accidents divided by GA miles flown, vs motorcycle accidents
> divided by motocycle miles, and so forth). ...

It seems to me that I'm MUCH safer in the air than on the ground. Take a
trip I make frequently: Denver to Salt Lake City. It's about a 500 mile
drive and I feel I have to be alert every second to stay on the road and
avoid other vehicles, etc. When I fly it's only the few minutes while on the
ground, taking off and landing that require similar alertness. I cruise for
minutes -- tens of minutes -- at a time completely relaxed while enjoying
the scenery and occasionally, eh, constantly watching for traffic.

Since the real danger is in the airport environment, I think fatalities per
mile flown are meaningless. The risk is the same whether I fly 5 miles or
500 miles with one landing.

Jon

[Matt Barrow]

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Last year in America, 1307 people died by falling off a ladder, while
> only 733 died in plane crashes.
>
> (Source: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/mor-
> mortality&all=1)
>
> The message here is clear -- we need to fly more, and pay someone else
> to paint the house...
>
No wonder I freak out going up a 20 foot ladder to do Christmas lights, but
have no problem going to 20,000 feet in an airplane.

[Ron Natalie]

Jim Macklin wrote:
> It is safer to a soldier in Iraq than a citizen in
> Washington, DC [if the email I got the other day is
> correct].
>
It's a total fabrication and completely wrong.

We've had about 1000 deaths per year over about
160,000 troops in Iraq. DC runs about 260 murders
over 600,000 citizens per year. Even if you throw
in auto fatalites, it doesn't get much over 300.

[Jim Macklin]

Do you mean that email on the Internet isn't always reliable
sources of information?


I would presume that New Orleans is more dangerous now, than
DC. But Renfrow, OK is probably safer, even on a per capita
basis if you don't could natural deaths from old age.



"Ron Natalie" > wrote in message
...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| > It is safer to a soldier in Iraq than a citizen in
| > Washington, DC [if the email I got the other day is
| > correct].
| >
| It's a total fabrication and completely wrong.
|
| We've had about 1000 deaths per year over about
| 160,000 troops in Iraq. DC runs about 260 murders
| over 600,000 citizens per year. Even if you throw
| in auto fatalites, it doesn't get much over 300.

[G. Sylvester]

Matt Barrow wrote:
> No wonder I freak out going up a 20 foot ladder to do Christmas lights, but
> have no problem going to 20,000 feet in an airplane.

I've heard that from so many first timers in light a/c it isn't funny.
Many people are scared at first and then back on the ground they say "I
thought it would be scary being in a small plane but it is quite
relaxing." Sometimes I think the same thing.

Gerald

[Matt Barrow]

"G. Sylvester" > wrote in message
. net...
> Matt Barrow wrote:
>> No wonder I freak out going up a 20 foot ladder to do Christmas lights,
>> but have no problem going to 20,000 feet in an airplane.
>
> I've heard that from so many first timers in light a/c it isn't funny.
> Many people are scared at first and then back on the ground they say "I
> thought it would be scary being in a small plane but it is quite
> relaxing." Sometimes I think the same thing.
>
The first time I flew in a small plane (15 years old), I was nervous (not
scared) for the first 15 seconds. After that, no problems.

My kids were all flying before they knew there was anything to be "nervous"
about.

Hell, my oldest went rappelling in the mountains, down a 350 foot shear rock
face, HEAD FIRST.

My wife was nervous the first few times, but never scared.

But, damn, I just can't handle a ladder.

[Dallas]

On 4 Feb 2007 07:03:45 -0800, Tony wrote:

> (GA accidents divided by GA miles flown,

The multi-year average is 1.55 fatal accidents per 100,000 hours of general
aviation. Assuming a ground speed of 110 mph, that would come to
11,000,000 statute miles per 1.55 fatal accidents.

On average, there are 346 fatal accidents per year. The average number of
fatalities per year is 609. So, a fatal crash kills an average of 1.76
people per crash.

The death rate for 11,000,000 GA miles would be 2.71 fatalities. That
would give us 24.6 fatalities per 100 million miles.

The death rate for automobile driving is roughly 1.7 deaths per 100 million
vehicle-miles.

GA flying is appears to be 14.27 times more dangerous than traveling by
car.

(Disclaimer: I did the math here so I don't guarantee it, please feel free
to double check my work.)

The core data comes from:
http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/05nall.pdf
http://www.faa.gov/ats/ata/publications/Aviation_Safety_Statistical_Handbook.pdf


--
Dallas

[Jay Honeck]

> But, damn, I just can't handle a ladder.

Get me in the John Hancock building, the Sears Tower, or on a trail
going into the Grand Canyon, and my legs are jello.

But I'll fly over 'em all day long. Go figure.

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"