Carly With air travel becoming the norm, I hear people question how safe airliners are, especially after a big accident. It is no secret that air travel is safer than traveling by car, but how much do you actually know about how air travel lines up next to other causes of death? Lets. Get. Nerdy.
If you check out the Aviation Safety Network, there were 325 airliner accident fatalities worldwide in 2016 with only 4 of those accidents belonging to the United States. These fatalities come from any of the 19 fatal aircraft accidents that happened all around the globe. And while, it is still a tragic thing to lose any life, overall, the number of fatal accidents per year has plummeted since 1946.
So, does 325 deaths caused by aircraft accidents make air travel seem a little unsafe? Sure. But by that logic, so are bathtubs. In America alone, someone drowns nearly every day in a tub of some sort. That means that more Americans die in fatal bathtub accidents than in aircraft accidents per year by like, a lot. Still, I would encourage you not to stop bathing.
But more people take baths than they fly in airplanes, you say. You’d be absolutely right. The 2016 US Census estimates there are about 323,127,513 people living (and hopefully bathing) in the US. That means that less than 1% (0.000113% to be exact) of Americans die in their bathtubs every year. So you can soak in your own dirty water without fear. However, the FAA estimates that there are 2,586,582 passengers who fly every day. That’s about 944,102,430 air travel passengers per year in the US. In case you haven’t already done the math in your head, that means that way WAY less than 1% of passengers die in fatal aircraft accidents per year (0.0000004234% to be exact). Write those numbers down to whip out at a party later.
As air travel becomes less expensive and more accessible, it seems the world is getting smaller and more people are taking advantage of the ability to go out and experience new cultures. With advanced technology, the added protections of government agencies like the FAA, and the added insight of accident investigators, air travel is safer than ever and only getting better. So now, when your parents or friends question how safe you taking a trip is, ask them how safe their bath will be.
