American Airlines crash

wegs said:
I keep hearing/reading this stat; of course there are more car accidents and such - we fly so much less than we drive (unless you're the pilot or flight attendants), so that's why the odds of being killed in a plane crash are way less. Not because driving is more dangerous. This is my logic, and I'm sticking to it. :rolleyes:
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The fact that shit happens is not something to be taken lightly of course, but we are brave and we meet every day with courage and dignity taking precautions to make our lives safe so we can enjoy every moment rather than worrying about what might be.
 
wegs said:
They say most car accidents in general happen a few miles away from your home.
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Mostly because you spend the vast amount of your traveling within a few miles of your house.

Every single journey - be it to the grocery store or to the cottage - starts and ends within a few miles of home.


wegs said:
On average, aviation accidents are rare events, and sure, because there is greater safety oversight, but we’re not “surrounded” by other flying planes during a flight, like we are in cars, when we’re driving on say multi-lane highways. I believe what you’re saying but does this make any sense?
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It doesn't matter how you try to dice up the causes and risks.
The simple fact is, you are more more likely to be killed in a car than in an airplane. That's actual statistics, not theoretical risk-counting.
 
wegs said:
I keep hearing/reading this stat; of course there are more car accidents and such - we fly so much less than we drive (unless you're the pilot or flight attendants), so that's why the odds of being killed in a plane crash are way less.
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Yes. Why are you suspicious of this?

wegs said:
Not because driving is more dangerous.
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Driving is more dangerous.

You're over-thinking your rationale.

Simply put: in your lifetime, you are more likely to die in a car accident than in a plane crash.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Mostly because you spend the vast amount of your traveling within a few miles of your house.

Every single journey - be it to the grocery store or to the cottage - starts and ends within a few miles of home.



It doesn't matter how you try to dice up the causes and risks.
The simple fact is, you are more more likely to be killed in a car than in an airplane. That's actual statistics, not theoretical risk-counting.
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Because we travel in cars more - law of large numbers should correlate with risk. But, I believe you, it just seems like an odd comparison because the vast majority of us spend way more time driving than flying.
 
wegs said:
but we’re not “surrounded” by other flying planes during a flight, like we are in cars, when we’re driving on say multi-lane highways.
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Oh absolutely. That's the "big sky" theory - the idea that the sky is very, very big and there aren't a lot of airplanes in it per cubic mile, so you're pretty safe flying around.

And it is why, when you are away from an airport*, you can fly VFR - which means your only real 'air traffic control' is looking out the windscreen and not running into anyone - and be fairly assured that you won't have any collisions.

Of course that no longer works near airports, which is where everyone in an aircraft wants to get - hence the greater attention paid in those places.



(* - technically, in class E or G airspace)
 
wegs said:
because the vast majority of us spend way more time driving than flying.
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Yes, but the point is you do drive more than you fly. In your life, as it is now, you are in a car hundreds of times in the next year and maybe once in a plane.

The long and the short of it - in terms of real danger to you - is that you are much, much more likely to be in a fatal car accident in the next year than in an plane crash.
 
wegs said:
Should we feel confident to fly?
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Yes. It's a statistical fluke that there happened to be two serious air accidents within days of one another. That sort of thing is bound to happen every now and then.

Do you know when the last mid-air collision involving a passenger plane in the US was, before the latest one? It was in the 1980s.

As other people have already pointed out, you're statistically far more likely to be killed in a car accident on your way to the airport than you are to die in a plane crash.

Commercial jet accidents really only happen these days when several different things go wrong simultaneously.
 
wegs said:
I keep hearing/reading this stat; of course there are more car accidents and such - we fly so much less than we drive (unless you're the pilot or flight attendants), so that's why the odds of being killed in a plane crash are way less. Not because driving is more dangerous. This is my logic, and I'm sticking to it. :rolleyes:
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It's safer (much) per mile traveled so it's not about flying less.
It's basically the same reason accidents are much less on an interstate. It's a more controlled environment in the sense that the entrance and exist is ordered, the lanes are wider, the roads straighter.

You have just eliminated many of the most common conditions leading to accidents. It's the same with flying. Once you get away from the airports there is a lot of separation. Cars don't just suddenly stop working (in general) and airplanes don't either.The irrational fear is due to the fact that went airplanes do crash, a lot of people die.

Cars can just pull of the road and airplanes can't although they often can still land safely, it's a different safety visual in your mind given what could happen. The main issue with airplane crashes isn't statistically airplanes just suddenly stopping working in an uncontrollable way. Yet, that's probably what is in you head when you have this fear, right? :)
 
I’m not really as concerned about mechanical failure as I am the ATC situation. Whether it was Trump’s or Biden’s “fault,” they seem a little short staffed and that collision shouldn’t have happened. I don’t consider it “just an accident,” from the new info coming out about it. It sounded like they were communicating with the helicopter and airplane pilot, yet it still happened. I do realize that it was rare, but if we have a staffing issue in ATC, will it continue to be rare?

Thanks though everyone, for putting my mind a little more at ease. I can count on you science nerds to come at me with facts! : )
 
Trump's latest appoinment to the State Department is Darren Beattie. He explains where the problem is coming from: "Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work."

So there you have it. Until all the women and blacks are purged from ATC and piloting roles, and indeed ANY important position, things won't work. Which is what Trump's anti-DEI campaign seeks to accomplish.

Sorry Wegs.
 
billvon said:
Trump's latest appoinment to the State Department is Darren Beattie. He explains where the problem is coming from: "Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work."

So there you have it. Until all the women and blacks are purged from ATC and piloting roles, and indeed ANY important position, things won't work. Which is what Trump's anti-DEI campaign seeks to accomplish.

Sorry Wegs.
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Yea, it’s feeling like a really misguided attempt to “cope” with what happened by blaming minorities. The problem with how DEI is “managed,” in my opinion, is that it has made it easier for minorities to be scapegoated when things go wrong. :(
 
Pinball1970 said:
Surely this is hate speech?
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??? No such thing any more. Terms like "hate speech" are now lumped under DEI, and have been removed.

Keep in mind that this is run by Trump, the guy who once said "I've got black accountants at Trump Castle and Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day."
 
billvon said:
??? No such thing any more. Terms like "hate speech" are now lumped under DEI, and have been removed.

Keep in mind that this is run by Trump, the guy who once said "I've got black accountants at Trump Castle and Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day."
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Right, wow.
I would be instantly fired if I came out with a statement like that at work.
No discussion, no warning, just shown the door for gross misconduct and rightly so.
 
billvon said:
Trump's latest appoinment to the State Department is Darren Beattie. He explains where the problem is coming from: "Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work."
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Please tell me that is not a direct quote.
 
wegs said:
Because we travel in cars more - law of large numbers should correlate with risk. But, I believe you, it just seems like an odd comparison because the vast majority of us spend way more time driving than flying.
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My son is travelling with work and he has spent a lot of time in Australasia.
Cool as long as it's not the states right now, it would not sit well with him.
Anyway he is now stateside and his dad is worried as usual.
At least he landed safely.
 
wegs said:
Yea, it’s feeling like a really misguided attempt to “cope” with what happened by blaming minorities. The problem with how DEI is “managed,” in my opinion, is that it has made it easier for minorities to be scapegoated when things go wrong. :(
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Indeed. This more than the usual blaming a specific person who is a minority. That's the way we usually experience racism.

But to state it explicitly to be "everyone but" white people is a level of white supremacy I simply can't believe exists.
 
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