| An Air France A340 jetliner skidded off a runway | | | | equals all commercial jet fatalities worldwide since the |
| while landing in Toronto. Remarkably, all 309 people | | | | dawn of jet aviation four decades ago. In fact, fewer |
| onboard survived as the flight attendants and crew | | | | people have died in commercial airplace accidents in |
| helped them evacuate the aircraft in less than two | | | | America over the past 60 years than are killed in U.S. |
| minutes.With this accident, we find it appropriate to | | | | auto accidents in a typical three-month period. In 2000, |
| discuss the safety of air travel, especially for those | | | | there were 41,800 traffic accident fatalities in the US |
| individuals that are considering a flight attendant career. | | | | compared to 878 commercial airplane fatalities that |
| Here are some answers to frequently asked | | | | same year. |
| questions about safety. | | | | What causes commercial jets to crash? |
| How safe is air travel? | | | | There's rarely a single cause. Usually it's a combination |
| Commercial Jet Aviation is an exceptionally safe way | | | | of things. One reason accidents are so rare is that |
| to get from here to there. More than three million | | | | commercial aviation has so many redundant, back-up |
| people around the world fly safely on commercial | | | | systems to keep a problem from becoming serious. |
| aircraft every day. In 2000, the world's commercial jet | | | | Typically this means that before a problem escalates |
| airlines carried approximately 1.09 billion people on 18 | | | | into an accident, safety experts say, a series of |
| million flights, while suffering only 20 fatal accidents. | | | | increasingly unlikely events must occur, one after |
| How often do serious accidents happen? | | | | another. It's sort of like having all the holes line up in |
| They are exceedingly rare. The risk of being involved | | | | randomly selected, stacked slices of Swiss cheese: |
| in a commercial jet aircraft accident where there are | | | | perhaps not impossible, but the chances are extremely |
| multiple fatalities is approximately one in three million. To | | | | remote. International teams are currently studying data |
| put this in perspective, you'd have to fly once every | | | | in order to identify the most significant accident causes, |
| day for more than 8,200 years to accumulate three | | | | and, importantly, strategies for preventing them. |
| million flights. But even though fatal jet accidents are | | | | What is the riskiest portion of a flight? |
| rare, the aviation community world-wide is continuing to | | | | Takeoff and the climb to cruising altitude, and the |
| work together to reduce them. | | | | descent and landing of an airplane are the two most |
| So is flying getting safer or riskier? | | | | risk-prone periods of a flight. In overly simplistic terms, |
| Commercial aviation has always been the safest | | | | takeoff demands the most from an airplane in terms |
| mode of long- distance travel. But it's gotten even | | | | of engine thrust and structural integrity, while final |
| safer. Thirty years ago, fatal accidents on commercial | | | | approach and landing demand the most of the cockpit |
| jetliners occurred approximately once in every 140 | | | | crew. About three-fourths of all serious accidents |
| million miles flown. Today, it's 1.4 billion miles flown for | | | | occur during these two relatively brief phases of a |
| every fatal accident - a ten-fold safety improvement. | | | | flight. |
| What's the risk of flying compared to driving? | | | | Where's the safest seat on a jet during a crash? |
| In the United States, it's 22 times safer flying in a | | | | There are some who believe it's safer to be seated |
| commercial jet than travelling by car, according to a | | | | near the wings or in the rear of the cabin. However, |
| 1993-95 study by the U.S. National Safety Council | | | | there's no evidence that any one part of an aircraft is |
| comparing accident fatalities per million passenger-miles | | | | safer than another. Also, it is best to listen to the |
| travelled. The number of U.S. highway deaths in a | | | | pre-take-off safety briefing on each flight, as well as all |
| typical six-month period is about 21,000 which roughly | | | | in-flight announcements. |