Is It Safe to Fly?
How safe is it to fly? It's an important question each and every "wanna be" pilot has a right to ask. A meaningful answer is hard to come by and yet every pilot or "wanna be" must find an answer that satisfies this question in his mind.
There are lots of articles and lots of opinions. My one bit of advice is to NOT rely on television news or newspapers for an answer to this question. The news media, both print and electronic, has sensationalized each and every aviation accident over the years. The result is a misinformed public that is scared to death of airplanes and flying.
Instead, I offer you the following statistics from the NTSB (National Transportation and Safety Board) the government agency charged with tracking and investigating all aviation accidents.
U.S. General Aviation (non scheduled aircraft)
| Acidents | Fatalities | Accidents per 100,000 Flight Hours | |||||
| Year | All | Fatal | Total | Aboard | Flight Hours | All | Fatal |
| 1982 | 3,233 | 591 | 1,187 | 1,170 | 29,640,000 | 10.90 | 1.99 |
| 1983 | 3,077 | 556 | 1,069 | 1,062 | 28,673,000 | 10.73 | 1.94 |
| 1984 | 3,017 | 545 | 1,042 | 1,021 | 29,099,000 | 10.36 | 1.87 |
| 1985 | 2,739 | 498 | 956 | 945 | 28,322,000 | 9.66 | 1.75 |
| 1986 | 2,582 | 474 | 967 | 879 | 27,073,000 | 9.54 | 1.75 |
| 1987 | 2,495 | 447 | 838 | 823 | 26,972,00 | 9.25 | 1.65 |
| 1988 | 2,387 | 460 | 800 | 792 | 27,446,000 | 8.69 | 1.68 |
| 1989 | 2,233 | 431 | 768 | 765 | 27,920,000 | 7.98 | 1.53 |
| 1990 | 2,215 | 443 | 765 | 762 | 28,510,000 | 7.77 | 1.55 |
| 1991 | 2,176 | 434 | 794 | 780 | 27,226,000 | 7.98 | 1.59 |
| 1992 | 2,073 | 446 | 857 | 855 | 24,800,000 | 8.35 | 1.79 |
| 1993 | 2,038 | 398 | 736 | 732 | 22,800,000 | 8.93 | 1.74 |
| 1994 | 1,995 | 404 | 730 | 723 | 22,240,000 | 8.96 | 1.81 |
| 1995 | 2,055 | 412 | 734 | 727 | 23,930,000 | 8.57 | 1.71 |
| 1996 | 1,905 | 359 | 631 | 614 | 24,100,000 | 7.90 | 1.49 |
| 1997 | 1,854 | 350 | 646 | 640 | 24,700,000 | 7.51 | 1.42 |
Source: The NTSB (The National Transportation and Safety Board) website at: http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Table10.htm
Please note: An accident is defined as any incident in which there was aircraft damage (other than minor), an injury which required hospitalization, or a fatality.
Flight Hours are estimated by the FAA
My Perspective: The NTSB calculates the accident and fatality rate per 100,000 Flight Hours flown. How long is 100,000 Flight Hours? By comparison, 100,000 Drive Hours in the family car is equal to one driving an average 45 miles per hour, for an average 15,000 miles per year, for 300 years!