I recently started flying again, and I feel more concerned as compared to when I used to fly in California. I did not have kids then, and most of my passengers had similar family situations. I have two wonderful kids now, whose lives depend on me. While I am not afraid of dying, I cannot be selfish enough to leave a family behind. And I cannot kill a passenger who has a one year old kid.
But, is flying really that risky? Isn't driving risky too? I need to know how much risk I am taking, and how I can reduce it to a "safe" level.
"Life is about managing risk, not elimination of it".
I find myself reading through accident reports, and statistics at the NTSB and AOPA websites. Facts are that travelling in a jumbo jet is unbelievably safe. If you were to travel in a commercial jet for every single second of your life, the risk of dying from old age is far greater than the risk of dying in the commercial jet accident.
Statistics are very different for general aviation planes. Small single engine planes are much more risky. While there is no general agreement on how much more/less riskier than driving a car, some statistics indicate that flying a small single engine plane is five times more likely to get you in a fatal accident as compared to one in a car! I simply cannot take this much risk. But how can I reduce my risk to a level at which it is safer to fly than to drive? Or is it possible at all?
A closer look at the accident statistics of general aviation reveals that 60% of all these accidents occur when pilots enter instrument weather inadvertently. These accidents are almost always fatal. JFK junior died when his small plane entered low visibility weather at night, and he became disoriented.
An additional 20% of all general aviation accidents occur due to problems that could be easily detected through proper pre-flight inspection.
This means that 80% of all accidents in general aviation are EASILY avoidable by the pilot.
If I can avoid bad weather, and do thorough pre-flight inspection, my risk factor goes down by 80%, and I can be as "safe" as being in a car.
These are my flying safety principles for life (regardless of my experience, and ratings):
1. I will fly for pleasure, and not for commute
2. I will never fly at night
3. I will never fly near clouds
4. I will never charge my passengers, nor be obliged to do anything for them
5. I will completely evaluate the condition of the airplane every time I am away from it
You do spend a lot of time (couple of hours for 45 minutes flight:) )going through safety checks and procedures. But this is why I felt comfortable flying with you.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! It was fun.
Thanks Ali for the confidence. Remember I did not say anything to your comment "It would be nice if someone would prepare the plane before we fly it". Its because of rule number 5 :)
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