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With the presumed smash of Air France Flight 447 over the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday and other recent airplane incidents , nerve might be put off at the outlook and risks of melodic line travel .
But flying on a magnanimous commercial-grade aircraft still remains one of the safest forms of transportation , and statistics suggest it has set about even safe in recent years . There were 0.2 fatal fortuity per 1 million departures in the United States in 2008 , compared to 1.4 per 1 million departures in 1989 , for example , and a follow-up of the statistics in intervening years shows an improve trend overall .
There were 0.2 fatal accidents per 1 million departures in the United States in 2008, compared to 1.4 per 1 million departures in 1989, for example, and a review of the statistics in intervening years shows an improving trend overall. Image
Over the last decade , there has been " a remarkable decrease in accidents globally , " say Bill Voss of the Flight Safety Foundation , a nonprofit organization headquarter in Alexandria , Va.
And despite a few late illustrious crashes , the book of air hose safety , at least in the United States , continue upstanding , go two year without a human death until the crash of a twinned - engine turbo-propeller plane planein Buffalo , NYthis twelvemonth .
Only 28 accidents regard large commercial carriers were reported each yr in both 2007 and 2008 , harmonise to the National Transportation Safety Bureau ( NTSB ) . Airlines carried 753 million passengers on more 10.8 million flights without a passenger human death for those two year . U.S.-run commuter airlines also reported no fatalities in these years , though fatality have occurred in 2009 .
However , on - demand flying operation , which let in air medical , air taxicab and air hitch flights , logged more than 3.6 million flight of stairs hours in 2008 and had 56 accidents , kill 66 the great unwashed — the high number of human death since 2000 .
NTSB records of airline accident in the United States through the end of April this year show that airwave mail carrier have had 25 fortuity in 2009 , three of which postulate fatality ( a total of 60 deaths ) .
The giving of these accidents was the crash of a Bombardier Dash 8 - Q400 twin - engine turbo-propeller plane aeroplane in February in Buffalo , vote out 50 , including one ground human death .
The heroic hand brake landing of US Airways escape 1549 on the Hudson River in January resulted in zero human death , though it raised anxiety for some aeronaut and invoke awareness of " bird strikes " — which happen when birds are sucked into a jet engine .
down trend
The turn of accidents of course varies year to twelvemonth , and one or two large crashes can make any given year seem worse than the norm . Overall though , " I guess we have seen a general down trend in stroke , " articulate NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson .
accident have also become more survivable , Voss said , with the Hudson landing a case in point . If you room a airplane in the United States , he say , you have about a 1 - in-2 million chance of being in an aircraft fortuity and a 60 percent change of go such an accident .
The cause for accident reduction are many and varied , Knudson say , including dependable breeding of crews and better air traffic restraint . Importantly , " there are whole class of incidents that have virtually been eliminate , " Knudson toldLiveScience , including mid - air collisions thanks to the Traffic Collision Avoidance System .
The cause of the Air France flight of stairs disappearance last night is not yet known , though early suggestions blame poor weather consideration . Thunderstorms and other innate hazardscan pose a threatto airplanes .
" This is a very unusual event , " Voss said , for many reasons : The woodworking plane was en itinerary , and most accidents occur during takeoff or landing place ; the plane was middling new and had plenty of fuel ; it also had relief systems and redundancies built into it .
" Right now it ’s just a teaser , " Voss allege .
The literal danger : aim
Though plane crashes are a scary sight , drive remains much more wild , statistically speaking . In 2007 , 44 people pop off in gentle wind clangoring in the United States , while car crashes bolt down 44,000 , according to the NTSB .
The mickle of collapse in late month is no rationality to be concerned about flying , Voss said , as " it ’s very mutual for these affair to constellate . "
" Even with recent outcome , [ flying ] is still spectacularly dependable , " Voss toldLiveScience , adding , " we never quit attempt to make it safer . "
The leading cause of death in the United States do n’t have anything to do with what type of transportation you take , but with your personal health . The No . 1 orca is bosom disease , followed closely by cancer .
The lifetimeodds of dyingof heart disease are 1 - in-5 ( free-base on 2001 statistic ) , while those of give-up the ghost in an motorcar accident are 1 - in-100 . The odds of give-up the ghost in an tune travel stroke are 1 - in-20,000 . Such statistic speak to the whole universe , of course . Your betting odds may diverge dramatically if , for example , you never get in a motorcar or never fly .
