Flight Safety

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

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/publicati...l_Handbook.pdf


--
Dallas

"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/coun...ed-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.

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

"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.

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"